The autonomous community of Extremadura strengthens its leadership in the production of photovoltaic solar energy with a new 400 megawatt project, which foresees an investment of 450 million euros and will be located between the towns of Calzadilla de los Barros and Bienvenida in the province of Badajoz.
This is the ‘Calzadilla’ project, which consists of four large photovoltaic plants interconnected by the same line, and which is being promoted by the Extremadura group Valsolar together with the German SAG Solarstrom, with which 1,600 jobs are expected to be created during the construction phase, and more than 120 jobs during the 30-year useful life of the facilities.
This new project was presented this Monday afternoon by the President of the Government of Extremadura, José Antonio Monago, and the representatives of Valsolar, Ramón Sanguino, and SAG Solarstrom, Oliver Günther, who signed a “collaboration and advisory” agreement for its implementation.
This new project was presented this Monday afternoon by the President of the Government of Extremadura, José Antonio Monago, and the representatives of Valsolar, Ramón Sanguino, and SAG Solarstrom, Oliver Günther, who signed a “collaboration and advisory” agreement for its implementation.
This is a project that was first born as two solar thermal plants, but later, when the premiums for renewable energies disappeared, it was put on ‘stand-by’ and was later reconverted into “a photovoltaic plant without premiums of great power”.
In his speech, the president of Extremadura applauded this project, which joins two others recently presented in Talaván and Usagre, and which makes the Extremadura region “a leader in the renewable energy sector”, for which it is “perfect” due to its climate.
“Extremadura is being a national leader, and is going to be an international leader, in the production of photovoltaic energy without premiums,” said Monago, who pointed out that the latest projects announced in the region have aroused the interest of other Autonomous Communities.
The construction of this new plant, which will be built on 972 hectares of land, is expected to take place between 2014 and 2015, when it will start operations.
It is a project, said Monago, that “will contribute to achieve the economic reactivation of the business fabric and the revitalization of Extremadura’s municipalities”, and that will allow “to demonstrate that recovery is possible, if one bets for it”.
Oliver Günther, a member of the board of directors of the German company SAG Solarstrom, highlighted the importance of this new plant, which will make Extremadura “a reference not only at national but also at European level”.
Finally, the representative of Valsolar, Ramón Sanguino, who trusts that the project “will be implemented as soon as possible”, in order to make the committed investment and create jobs.
