PROVINCIA DE CáCERES – Iberdrola launches Europe’s largest photovoltaic installation in the province of Cáceres. The solar park went into operation on Wednesday with an installed capacity of 590 megawatts.
The “Francisco Pizarro” plant will produce enough clean energy to supply a population comparable to the entire cities of Badajoz, Plasencia and Don Benito. The solar park is located between the municipalities of Torrecillas de la Tiesta and Aldeacentenera and covers an area of approximately 1,078 hectares.
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Project director Jorge Santa Bárbara explains that the plant has 12,000 mobile structures called “solar trackers” that allow the photovoltaic panels to orientate and obtain the best angle of incidence of the sun’s rays based on the location of the sun.
With the start-up of the ‘Francisco Pizarro’ factory, the factory in Usagre (Badajoz), also belonging to the Iberdrola group, is no longer the largest in Europe.
Investment and offer
The development of this installation, the largest photovoltaic installation in the world to date, of the Iberdrola group, involves an investment of more than €300 million. The project has also created more than 1,500 jobs.
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The energy production from this location will also prevent the emission of 150,000 tons of CO2 per year. Iberdrola will also supply 100% renewable electricity from this plant to companies such as Danone, Bayer and PepsiCo to cover the energy needs of its centres in Spain.
