The Italian renewable energy company Plenitude has started construction work on a solar power plant in Villarino de los Aires (Salamanca). With an installed capacity of 220 megawatts, it is one of the largest installations of its kind in Castile and León. When operational, it will generate over 400 gigawatt hours per year.

The new park is being built on a plot of land covering around 286 hectares. The installation will consist of 365,300 bifacial solar modules. It will be connected to the national electricity transmission grid at the Villarino de los Aires connection point by means of a 3.2-kilometre underground medium-voltage line.

Local companies
The construction process is expected to be completed in 2025. The work is being carried out by Sterling & Wilson, one of the world's largest solar EPC solutions providers, with the support of other local companies. The new solar plant will complement Plenitude's portfolio in Castile and León, where it currently has a wind power plant with an installed capacity of 13 megawatts.

In addition to this region, the Italian company has solar and wind power plants in Galicia, La Rioja, Catalonia, Castile-La Mancha and Murcia. In total, it already operates over 440 megawatts of installed capacity in Spain. This is a portfolio that will continue to grow in the future, with projects currently under construction.

Future projects
The projects now under construction will reach around one gigawatt of power between the new plant in Salamanca and others that will give Plenitude a presence in two new autonomous communities: Andalusia (Seville and Granada) and Extremadura (Badajoz). At the same time, the company has other projects at different stages of development that will add over two gigawatts to its installed capacity in Spain.

Mariangiola Mollicone, Head of Western Europe Renewables and Managing Director of Plenitude Renewables in Spain, said, “The Villarino project is a perfect example of integration with the region. Being here today, in the presence of all the stakeholders involved in the project, is tangible proof of our willingness to continue this collaborative approach in the coming years, in line with our business and growth strategy for the country.”

To reinforce this integration with the region, the company is including some environmental and social measures in its Salamanca project, such as preserving and relocating rural houses between the modules, conserving the natural water channels that cross the area, erecting permeable hunting fences around the enclosure and actively coordinating with neighbouring farmers to ensure that the project can be made compatible with the use of the land.

^{Photo: Plenitude}