Lightsource bp has powered up its 247MWp flagship solar project Vendimia in Zaragoza, Spain. The company announced it on June 24.(Logo quoted from Yahoo’s image)
The five-project cluster was constructed safely during the COVID-19 pandemic and commercial operation recently began. The total power output will be supplied to bp’s European power trading team under a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
Lightsource bp’s ever-increasing local project pipeline will provide a positive contribution to Spain and the wider European Union’s renewables targets, with the many co-benefits that our projects deliver, like boosting biodiversity and local economic development.”
Around 615,000 bifacial solar panels have been installed, over 650 hectares of land on multi-row tracker technology enabling the panels to follow the sun, maximising energy generation efficiency. In addition, two overhead transmission lines at 18km and 20km were constructed to efficiently deliver the solar power into the local network.
The construction process was handled by Lightsource bp’s appointed contractor, Prodiel (an Andalusian engineering, procurement and construction company) and over 600 local jobs were created during that time. Prodiel will continue to maintain the solar cluster under an Operations & Maintenance agreement for the next two years.
The opening ceremony took place on June 24 and was attended by the Country Head of Lightsource bp Spain, Fernando Roger, the head of country of bp in Spain, Carlos Barrasa; the Director of Economic Development in Aragon for the Government of Spain, René Gómez López de Munain; and the mayor of Almochuel, Ángel Gascón Moliner, among other authorities.
In just two short years, Lightsource bp’s local team in Spain, based in Madrid has grown from 1 to over 60 full-time employees and the team expects to get a further 148.5MWp of solar projects into construction this year across Aragon.
Lightsource bp aims to recruit for an additional 30 full-time roles in Spain this year as the company continues to build on its rapidly increasing project development pipeline, currently at 3GW. Most recently the company has announced co-development agreements with RIC Energy, Iberia Solar and Grupo Jorge. The local team continues to progress solar projects efficiently and safely despite constraints of the global pandemic.
Lightsource bp prides itself on the responsible integration of solar into local markets, ensuring its projects go beyond providing renewable power in offering local investment, employment and biodiversity measures.
(IRuniverse)
