The renewable energy company EDP Renewables (EDPR) has managed to connect and successfully produce clean energy for the grid in what is already the first hybrid park in Spain, which unites two technologies, wind and solar, in the same place.
As reported by the company, the Santa María del Cubillo complex, located in Ávila, had already been operational for 23 years through the ‘Cruz de Hierro’ wind farm, which has a total of 22 wind turbines and an installed capacity of 14.5 megawatts (MW).
With the now placement of more than 25,000 bifacial photovoltaic solar panels, the complex significantly increases the production of renewable energy at that location, having a combined installed capacity of 28.75 MW. The two parks will produce more than 58 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity per year, energy that would be enough to supply the equivalent of more than 17,000 homes in the area annually.
Projects of this type in Portugal and Poland
With this project, EDP Renovables becomes the first company to launch projects with hybridization technologies in Spain, Portugal and Poland. Likewise, the company expects to put two more hybrid parks into operation in Spain in the coming months, and has more than 15 wind-solar hybridization projects, which should add more than 230 MW of renewable capacity to Spain in the coming years.
Last June, EDPR was the first Spanish company to receive authorization from the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) to connect a hybrid park that combines these two technologies to the grid. By adding solar technology to an operating wind project, EDPR highlighted that it manages to accelerate the region’s energy transition while avoiding more than 24,000 tons of CO2 every year with the production of this energy, which is equivalent to the capture made by more than 40,000 mature trees.
Renewable energy projects
Spain continues to be a strategic country for EDP, where it already has an installed capacity of nearly two gigawatts (GW) between solar and wind energy, 444 MW in hydro and where it is developing green hydrogen projects. Until 2026, the company plans to invest 20 billion euros in the development and implementation of renewable energies in the world, of which 40% is destined for terrestrial wind energy and another 40% for large-scale solar energy.
The CEO of EDP and EDPR, Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade, considered that putting the first hybrid park into operation in Spain reinforces the company’s commitment to “develop pioneering clean energy projects in an efficient and sustainable manner in a key market” to the company.
