The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed two green loans with Iberdrola totalling €108m to improve the pumping capacity of the Valdecañas hydroelectric complex (pictured), which encompasses the Torrejón and the Valdecañas power plants.
The finance comprises a €50m loan using own funds and a €58m loan with funds from the Regional Resilience Fund (FRA).
The complex will help to secure energy supply and create storage capacity enabling the integration and management of renewable energy.
The Valdecañas plant will have a total installed capacity of 225MW, a 15MW hybrid battery and 7.5MWh of stored energy.
Together, the battery and hydroelectric units will make it possible to increase the added pumping capacity to a maximum of 313MW, and the storage capacity of the Tajo system to 210GWh.
The works to improve pumping capacity will make use of the existing installations in the Valdecañas and Torrejón-Tajo reservoirs – without changes to the levels of operation – and the existing transport networks, thus reducing the impact on the environment, Iberdrola said.
In addition, the improvement works will directly create 165 jobs and a further 500 indirectly, boosting skilled employment.
The total investment will take place in a cohesion region, an area where the per capita income is below the EU average.
In this way, the project will contribute to climate action and territorial, economic and social cohesion – two of the eight priorities set out in the Group’s Strategic Roadmap for the years 2024-2027.
Having received funding from the Regional Resilience Fund, the project is also in line with the objectives of Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
The Regional Resilience Fund directs funding from the NextGenerationEU programme to boost investment in Spain autonomous communities, predominantly for environmental and social projects.
The fund is led by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise and is supported by the autonomous communities and cities and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), with the EIB Group as a strategic management partner.
This operation is in line with the EIB’s action plan to support the REPowerEU initiative to improve energy security in the European Union and to reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports.