GE Vernova, a subsidiary of US-based General Electric and Saudi Arabia's Alfanar, have formed a joint venture to develop renewable energy projects in Spain. The relationship is based on a portfolio of eight assets under development contributed by Alfanar, and with a total capacity of 334 megawatts. The joint venture will also explore new projects in onshore wind, solar photovoltaics, energy storage and batteries.

Alfanar Energía España currently has five wind farms and three solar power plants in the start-up phase in the regions of Valencia, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León. All these assets will be integrated into the new company, the name of which has not yet been disclosed. The aim is for these projects to be ready for construction in 2025 and to start commercial operations in 2027.

Renewable energy generation targets
The new partners aim to contribute to the Spanish government's target of 81% renewable energy generation by 2050, which means 62 gigawatts of onshore wind and 76 gigawatts of solar PV.

Alfanar focuses primarily on the manufacture of electrical building products, engineering, procurement and construction solutions for conventional and renewable power plants, related engineering services and design engineering. GE Vernova, formerly known as GE Energy Financial Services, specialises in financing solutions for renewable energy projects. The joint venture will develop, finance and implement projects through to commissioning.

Electrification and decarbonisation
Guilherme Carvalho, Managing Director of Europe Renewables at GE Vernova's Financial Services business, said, “Our joint venture with Alfanar will further consolidate our presence in Spain and build on our success in establishing relationships with strong development partners to bring renewable energy projects online. In addition, the project pipeline will help Spain meet its renewable energy targets, driven primarily by onshore wind and solar PV, while contributing to Europe's overall electrification and decarbonisation goals.”

For Jamal Wadi, President of Alfanar Projects and CEO of Alfanar Global Development, this partnership “marks an important milestone in our journey to expand and diversify our significant portfolio of renewable energy projects in Spain. By bringing together both companies' extensive knowledge of renewable energy and sustainable construction, this collaboration will pave the way for Spain's transition towards achieving its ambitious renewable energy targets. The aim of both parties is to extend this partnership to new projects and new sectors.”

^{Photo: GE Vernova}