Spain’s Catalonia region buys solar plants – pv magazine International

From pv magazine Spain

Energètica, the government-owned renewable energy company of Catalonia, has opened the first process to purchase renewable energy projects through a public procurement procedure. All interested companies can participate.

The Catalan government’s renewable energy company plans to allocate up to €10 million ($10.2 million) for the purchase of ground-mounted solar parks with a combined capacity of up to 5 MW.

The public company will prioritize new construction projects. Among the selection criteria, priority will be given to the minimum cost and social acceptance of the municipality where the project is planned.

The Catalonian government will also evaluate if the project involves an energy community, contributes to the self-supply of municipal energy consumption, adopts measures to reduce environmental impact, incorporates hybridization with storage facilities, and uses components produced in the European Union. Priority will also be given to projects that ensure a balanced territorial distribution, considering the network capacity limits.

Projects must have the connection point granted. L’Energètica will invest no less than €100,000 per project in third-party solar parks and must acquire at least 5% of the shares.

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Companies interested in participating must submit their bids by July 31. The selected projects will undergo a due diligence check to confirm their technical, economic, and legal feasibility before the purchase.

Energètica (Energies Renovables Públiques de Catalunya, SAU) began operations in March last year, aiming to decarbonize all electricity consumed by the region’s government. The main objective for 2040 is to provide all public services of the Generalitat de Catalunya with local energy, requiring over 1,000 MW of renewable energy. In its first year, L’Energètica has accumulated a generation capacity of 19 MW and has over 50 projects under construction or in the pipeline.