Spain’s Basque regional government is processing 21 battery energy storage system (BESS) projects totaling 352.6 MW of charging and discharging capacity and 1,403 MWh of storage.
Six projects have secured administrative authorization, while the remaining 15 are at various stages of the permitting process.
The projects are evenly distributed across the provinces of Álava and Bizkaia, with 10 having storage capacities below 25 MWh. The Basque Country currently has two operational battery storage systems, both commissioned in 2021 and co-located with the Oiz and Elgea-Urkilla wind farms.
Separately, the Basque Department of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability has denied preliminary administrative authorization for 19 solar projects proposed by Spanish developer Solaria, totaling 970.5 MW.
The decision covers the Solaria Zierbena Solar 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 29 projects, along with their evacuation infrastructure in Álava and shared transmission infrastructure spanning Álava and Bizkaia. As a result, the permitting files have been closed.
According to the Basque Official Gazette, the applications were rejected for two procedural reasons. First, Spain’s transmission system operator, Red Eléctrica, confirmed the automatic expiry of the projects’ grid access and connection permits, requiring the regional government to deny the applications and close the proceedings.
The department also said Solaria failed to secure a favorable environmental impact assessment within the deadline established under Royal Decree-Law 23/2020. Under the legislation, missing that deadline also results in the expiry of grid access and connection permits and the forfeiture of associated financial guarantees.
The decision comes days after Solaria secured a favorable environmental impact assessment for its proposed 600 MW agrivoltaic project in Spinazzola, southern Italy. The company also has a €1.7 billion ($1.95 billion) loan from the European Investment Bank to support the deployment of 5.6 GW of solar projects across Spain, Italy and Portugal, covering about 120 photovoltaic plants.
From pv magazine España
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