A newly erected photovoltaic (PV) installation near Albacete, a town in the southern Spanish province of Castile-La Mancha, has been up and running since May 2020. This power plant generates more than 80 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year with 105,000 PV modules spread over 90 hectares. Roughly equivalent to 22,600 three-person households’ consumption, the generated solar power saves around 23,000 metric tons of CO2 annually. The German company Athos Solar GmbH realized this solar park, a subsidy-free installation that delivers 40 megawatts of peak power.
Athos Solar joined forces with Grupo Zaragozá, an EPC service provider and partner company of long standing, to construct this green-field PV plant. Under the auspices of Athos Solar, the general contractor developed the project, planned the solar park, handled the sourcing and built the plant amid challenging conditions. Construction work came to a halt for several weeks in the wake of Spain’s lockdown restrictions prompted by Covid-19. When the work resumed, the partners in this project had to complete the plant with a much smaller workforce and despite administrative delays. The unusually adverse winter weather also impeded the building effort. “We are delighted to have been able to construct the solar park and connect it to the 132-kV grid within some six months despite all these challenges. This would not have been possible without the exceptional dedication of all those involved in the project. The local city hall also actively supported us,” says Christian Linder, Managing Director of Athos Solar.
Athos Solar is big on local value creation, a policy the company again pursued with this plant. Spanish enterprises provided all services as well as the central inverters and the substructure of single-axis trackers.
"Spain one of the most growth markets for photovoltaics"
Vicente Zaragozá, Managing Director of Grupo Zaragozá, is no less pleased with the project’s success story: “We have been working with Athos Solar for many years and are delighted to have been again entrusted with the building of a solar park, their first in Spain. Despite the sundry challenges of recent months, we have successfully connected the plant to the grid in a joint effort with Athos Solar. I believe the short decision-making processes and hands-on mindset at Athos Solar and at our company were key factors for this plant development and construction project’s successful completion.” The two partner companies aim to team up again to build more photovoltaic plants in Spain. “Subsidy-free solar power is the next step towards a broad-scale, climate-friendly energy supply,” says Christian Linder. “We want to continue on this path, particularly in Spain, one of the most attractive growth markets for photovoltaics.” (HCN)
