Hanwha Energy bags 50MW solar power deal in Spain

Hanwha Energy said Thursday it has won a solar power plant deal with 50 megawatt capacity in Spain.

According to the Hanwha Group affiliate, it has signed a contract with Spanish firm GRS for the construction of the solar power plant in Seville, Spain. The plant will be completed by the end of this year at the earliest.

The Las Naranjillas plant, equipped with 121,800 solar modules, is expected to generate electricity enough for 13,997 households and reduce 51,977 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, which is equivalent to carbon emitted by 10,192 cars. The project is expected to create 180 jobs.

“We are in one of the best moments for the construction of solar power plants in Spain thanks to the regulations and cost reductions that are taking place,” GRS Commercial Director Oscar Hurtado said in a statement.

According to Spain’s National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), the country is expected to construct solar power plants with combined 39 gigawatt capacity by 2030 as plenty of sunshine makes Iberian Peninsula an ideal zone for solar power generation.

This is not the first time Hanwha has entered the Spanish solar market as its solar cells unit Hanwha Q Cells bought development rights for power projects with combined 940MW capacity worth 80 million euros ($90 million) in Spain from a local energy company, Ric Energy, in March.

The project, which will be ready for construction in the first quarter of 2022, is expected to generate electricity for 500,000 households once completed.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)