Spanish developer Matrix Renewables has started commercial operations at three solar PV projects in Spain, with a combined capacity of 129MW.
Matrix built the three facilities, known collectively as the Rocío PV projects, in the southern Andalusia region, in Spain. The Rocío projects also include a co-located battery storage system, which the company described as “one of the earliest battery storage projects in the country”.
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The company began construction on the projects last year, after securing a US$89 million loan from French investor Natixis to finance the project. Matrix and Natixis marked the investment as a “green loan”, an increasingly popular means of financing renewable power projects in Europe that enables companies to demonstrate their commitments to clean energy targets, in exchange for reporting on the environmental credentials of the projects funded in this manner.
“Matrix Renewables is well placed to support corporate renewable energy buyers to accelerate their energy transition and sustainability goals,” said Matrix president and chief operations officer Luis Sabaté, discussing how European power companies are increasingly eager to demonstrate their clean energy credentials. “We will continue generating clean renewable energy and contributing to an improved and decarbonised society.”
Power generated from the projects will be sold to Swedish fashion giant H&M, after the two companies signed a multi-year power purchase agreement in 2022, to begin on the completion of the Rocío projects.
These projects comprise Matrix’s second solar plant to begin operations in Spain, following the start of commercial operations at the 50MW Olivares project in south-eastern Spain, which came online last year.
The company has a further 63 projects under development in Spain, with a combined capacity of 3.9GW, and the successful development of these facilities could help Spain realise its lofty clean energy goals. Earlier this year, Spain updated its National Energy and Climate Plan, nearly doubling its previous target of installing 39GW of solar PV capacity by 2030 to 76GW of capacity by the end of this decade.