Europe’s largest photovoltaic plant commissioned in Spain

The largest photovoltaic plant in Europe has just come into operation last week. It discharged its first MWh of clean energy into the electricity grid on the 6th of April. Iberdrola has succeeded in commissioning the Núñez de Balboa project - the biggest photovoltaic plant in Europe - in record time. It was built in just one year and completed last December.

Núñez de Balboa, with 500 megawatts (MW) of installed power and involving an investment approaching EUR 300 million (USD 329 million), is between the towns of Usagre, Hinojosa del Valle and Bienvenida in Badajoz in Extremadura region. The scheme features 1,430,000 solar panels, 115 inverters, and two substations, stretching across close to 1,000 hectares (2471.1 acres) of land. 

The plant, which is being developed in collaboration with Ecoenergías del Guadiana, is a record-breaking renewable flagship project:

• The construction, which took one year, employed 1,200 workers at peak times - 70% of them from Extremadura
• The project added to the value chain with purchases worth 227 million euros from some thirty suppliers, many of them local
• The plant will generate clean energy to supply 250,000 people per year, and will prevent the emission of 215,000 tonnes of CO2 every year
• Iberdrola's clean energy investment plan includes installing 3,000 MW of wind and photovoltaic energy by 2022.
• Iberdrola received green financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO). Spain's state financial agency for the project.