Located near the city of Toro in the northwest of Spain, Garnacha solar power plant will feature more than 270,000 solar panels built on north-south single-axis trackers for optimal performance
Garnacha solar power plant is located near city of Toro, Spain. (Credit: ib vogt GmbH)
German renewable energy projects developer ib vogt has started construction on the 149MWp Garnacha solar power plant located in the Zamora province, Spain.
The project is backed by a 12-years power purchase agreement (PPA) with Google.
It has secured a €90m long-term project financing facility from the Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (NORD/LB) and Santander Corporate and Investment Banking.
The project reached a financial close in August this year, and the construction started in September, which would take around 12 months.
The plant is expected to begin commercial operation in October 2023.
ib vogt CEO Anton Milner said: “We are pleased to have broken ground for yet another major project in Spain, contributing towards the country’s own renewable electricity targets and doing our part to power the energy transition.
“We are also excited to be working together with Google and contributing to their important environmental objectives.
“Thanks to the outstanding support of the local, regional, and national administrative bodies and our partners at NORD/LB and Santander CIB.”
In addition to the construction, ib vogt is providing an end-to-end service to the project, along with Operations & Maintenance and Asset Management services.
The Garnacha solar power plant is located near the city of Toro in the northwest of Spain and will support the transition of the region towards clean energy.
It covers 224ha of the area on extremely low-quality soil and will feature more than 270,000 solar panels built on north-south single-axis trackers for optimal performance.
The project can produce up to 300GWh per annum, the clean solar electricity equivalent to the average consumption of 85,000 households, saving up to 50,000 tons of CO2 per annum.
NORD/LB structured finance global head Heiko Ludwig said: “The development of ib vogt’s Garnacha power project and the successful closing of the project financing is a great example of the combined power of different industries.
“We are very proud to play a part in this and are glad to continue NORD/LB’s growth in the promising Iberian renewable energy market.”
Santander CIB European structure finance head Bartholomew White said: “We are proud to be supporting our clients through the green transition and look forward to many more projects to help us achieve our net zero targets and continue reinforcing our leadership in the renewables sector.”
Google infrastructure and energy principal Marc Oman said: “We are delighted to work with ib vogt to add new clean energy to the grid while significantly improving Google’s carbon footprint in Spain.
“By 2025, and with help from ib vogt’s Garnacha project, Google’s Spanish cloud region and offices will operate on carbon-free energy nearly 90 per cent of the time.”