Allianz Capital Partners, on behalf of Allianz insurance, has signed the acquisition of the 218.8MW Solara solar project in Portugal.
Image: Allianz acquires 218.8MW solar project. Photo: Courtesy of Allianz.
Solara, located about 230 km south-east of Lisbon in Southern region of Portugal, is expected to be one of the largest solar projects in Portugal.
Portugal is one of the major European countries producing clean energy with more than half of energy coming from wind, solar and hydro sources.
Construction works for Solara have already started and the commissioning of the project is expected by summer 2019.
Following the acquisition of Iberia´s first subsidy free solar farm in Ourique, Portugal in October this year, Solara is the second solar project for Allianz without public subsidies.
Solara solar farm is capable of providing renewable energy for approximately 100,000 households in the region per annum. This capacity would be adequate to supply energy to a city in size of Porto for one year.
In the area of Vaqueiros which has been impacted by declining population recently, a solar project like Solara is expected to bring economic benefits. Along with benefits, it is also expected to provide employment for 1,500 people on site through construction.
Solara has agreed for a fixed price power purchase agreement (PPA) for a span of 20-years.
Allianz Capital Partners renewables head Marc Groves-Raines said: “Allianz is one of the leading investors in renewable energies in Europe as we aim to lead our industry in integrating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors into our investment businesses.
“This is already our second investment in Portugal in the subsidy free area in combination with a PPA. We are delighted to partner again with WElink on this attractive solar project. With our 9th solar investment Solara we will have more than 90 projects in our renewables portfolio.”
Allianz claims to have made equity investments in the renewable energy sector that totals to 9 solar farms and 83 wind parks located in Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, and the US. The renewable energy generated by Allianz’s wind and solar parks is enough to supply to over a million households.