TotalEnergies has obtained a favourable Environmental Impact Assessment from the Spanish Ministry of Energy Transition and Autonomous Communities for an estimated 3GW of installed solar capacity.
The approval relates to the 48 power plants that the company will develop in the Madrid region with an installed capacity of 1.9GW.
It also covers projects in the Murcia region of more than 350MW, and 300MW in Castilla-La Mancha.
The final developments are 263MW in Andalusia and 150MW in Aragon.
The first sites are due to come on stream in early 2024.
TotalEnergies will promote a series of compensatory measures, including bird marking for behavior monitoring and renting 400 additional hectares for conservation efforts.
It will also utilise 1.5% of plant production for electricity bill discounts for local residents, while providing construction and operation & maintenance training to residents in surrounding municipalities.
Chairman and chief executive of TotalEnergies Patrick Pouyanné said: “With 2 million residential and business customers in Spain, our company is firmly committed to promoting the development of renewable energy in the country.
“Obtaining this favorable environmental impact assessment is therefore a great step forward for us.
“For Spain, the development of these solar farms will make a massive contribution to the country’s energy transition, as they will be able to power the equivalent of the population of the entire community of Madrid.
“For TotalEnergies, these projects will bring us closer to our goal of 100GW of gross renewable installed capacity by 2030 worldwide.”