Lightsource BP has powered up its 247MW flagship solar project in Spain.
The total output from the five-project cluster in Zaragoza will be supplied to BP’s European power trading team under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA).
Lightsource BP Spain country head Fernando Roger said: “The connection of our Vendimia project, truly demonstrates the resilience of solar.
“We had to face many challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but our team and trusted partners remained focussed, and now we have completed our first project in Spain.
“We would also like to extend a special thank you to all the landowners involved for their continued support on this project.
Around 615,000 bifacial solar panels have been installed, on 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, 18km and 20km long, were constructed to 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 and maintenance agreement for the next two years.
The opening ceremony took place today and was attended by Roger, the head of country of BP in Spain, Carlos Barrasa, the Director of Economic Development in Aragon for the Government of Spain, Rene Gomez Lopez de Munain and the mayor of Almochuel, Angel Gascon Moliner, among other authorities.
The long-term nature of the solar farm (which will typically be in place for around 30 years) provided opportunities to boost local biodiversity, including native species planting and a vegetation screen for a livestock path that runs through the site.
Lightsource bp also worked closely with NGO DEMA to install a Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni) nesting building on the perimeter of the site to provide a safe nesting area for a new colony of this small falcon.
The main goal is to develop a Lesser Kestrel releasing programme, for a minimum of four years, to create a new colony for this species across the enclave.