SPAIN. AUDAX RENOVABLES SIGNS A RECORD-BREAKING PHOTOVOLTAIC PPA: 708 MW

The agreement just signed is the most important – in terms of value – ever formalized up to now: Audax Renovables has secured the purchase and sale, at a fixed price, of the energy generated by the photovoltaic plants owned by the Irish WElink. Considering the Solara 4 and Ourika plants – located in Portugal – and those still in the planning phase, the PPA will involve, at full capacity, 708 MW of installed power. The contract has a duration of 20 years.

Some data. Solara 4, in the Algarve, operational since the middle of this year, with its 700 thousand high-efficiency solar modules will be the largest European photovoltaic park not supported by incentives but supported by a PPA stipulated between private subjects. The plant, moreover, will have a capacity of 218.8 MW for a generated energy sufficient to supply electricity to more than 100 thousand families.

The Ourika plant, also in Portuguese territory, has a capacity of 46 MW; with its 142 thousand high-efficiency solar panels it occupies a surface area equivalent to about 100 football fields. The 82 GWh/year of production make this park the most important in the Iberian country. 

The current PPA goes in the direction of the consolidation of Audax Renovables in the European market and, in this case, the Portuguese one, where it occupies the sixth and seventh position respectively as an energy seller in the retail and industrial sectors. The PPA agreement allows Audax to cover almost entirely the share of energy supplied to its Portuguese customers with 100% green and renewable electricity. According to official data provided by Lisbon, until 2021 the Iberian country will be affected by an intense activity of development of photovoltaic solar energy, with the construction of 31 new installations for a total of 1,110 MW, of which Audax Renovables will manage 267, approximately a quarter.

What was signed in recent days marks another step in the journey undertaken by Audax Energia, when in March 2018 it formalized another record-breaking PPA with COX Energy. That agreement provided for the coverage of 660MW of installed power, enough to distribute 1,300 GWh per year of renewable or green energy, equivalent to the consumption of more than 390 thousand families.