Grenergy will invest €1.5bn for the development of photovoltaic generation projects and €800m for battery storage projects to expand its installed capacity of solar photovoltaic generation to 5GW and storage capacity to 4.1GWh

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Grenergy’s growth plans are focused on energy storage. (Credit: Sungrow EMEA on Unsplash)

Spanish independent power producer (IPP) Grenergy Renovables has unveiled its plans to invest €2.6bn in the next three years to expand its portfolio of solar power generation and projects.

Grenergy is allocating €1.5bn of the total investment for the development of its portfolio of photovoltaic generation projects and €800m for battery storage projects.

Announced at the company’s first Capital Markets Day, the investment plans are part of the Spanish energy company’s growth plans that are closely related to energy storage.

Grenergy aims to expand its portfolio of solar photovoltaic projects to 5GW of gross installed capacity and its storage portfolio to 4.1GWh.

Grenergy CEO David Ruiz de Andrés said: “Today, Chile is a superpower in terms of the development of energy storage due to the exceptional conditions of the Atacama Desert in terms of hours of solar radiation and the particularity of the energy mix of this vast area, where the penetration of solar energy reaches 50%.

“Today is an important day for Grenergy, which is launching its strategic plan for the next three years and which will guide the path that will place us in another dimension as a company.”

Grenergy has started construction on the Oasis de Atacama project, a new battery energy storage system (BESS) in the north of Chile.

It will be the world’s largest BESS project with a 4.1GWh storage and 1GW solar capacity, said Grenergy.

The company will invest a total of $1.4bn for the project, which will developed in five phases.

The Oasis de Atacama project is anticipated to come on stream in phases over the next 36 months, helping to improve grid stability and decarbonise the economy.

Last week, Grenergy unveiled its 15-year long-term sales contract to supply more than 8TWh of green energy to the Chilean company EThOAC, a subsidiary of COPEC.

Andrés added: “Oasis de Atacama will be an iconic project for Grenergy and the entire renewable sector.

“We have the backing of five international banks mandated to finance it, the secured sale with a PPAs signed with EThOAC, and the know-how and talent needed to get it off the ground.”