Iberdrola Renewables and the savings bank Caja Rural de Aragón (Cajalón) have formed a joint venture to develop clean energy installations in the Aragon region of north eastern Spain.
The new company, in which Iberdrola Renewables holds an 80 per cent share and Cajalón 20 per cent, plans to develop clean energy installations with a total capacity of some 650MW, including a number of wind farms and a solar thermal plant.
In principle, the projects should be completed in four-years, although this will depend on the time required to obtain planning permission.
The thermal solar plant will be the region’s largest, with a 50MW capacity, and will take up a 245-hectare site between the municipalities of Azaila y La Puebla de Híjar in the province of Teruel.
Iberdrola is the leading developer of wind farms in the region and already operates installations totalling 283MW. The company is prepared to invest another €1bn in the region in coming years, which would create an estimated 350 jobs during the construction stage and some 250 permanent jobs.
In Aragon, Iberdrola now operates a 1.4MW mini-hydro plant, and eight wind farms: Tardienta I (49.5MW), Tardienta II (44.2MW), La Plana II (16.5MW), La Plana III (21MW), Fuendetodos I (46MW), Fuendetodos II (47.6MW), Entredicho (36MW), and La Torrecilla (16.5MW).
In addition, the company was recently awarded a contract to build the 6MW El Espartal wind farm, which will supply electricity to the Expo 2008 event to be held this summer in Zaragoza.
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