UK-headquartered renewable energy developer, Renewco Power (Renewco), and Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure (Atlantica), a sustainable infrastructure company focused on renewable energy, have entered into an agreement to develop up to 2.2 GW of greenfield standalone Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects across Spain.
Last year, Renewco, which has offices in both Madrid and Sevilla, launched a process to find an investment partner for its diversified greenfield BESS portfolio of 16 projects which would connect to select transmission substations across Spain, subject to the forthcoming grid capacity auctions planned by the Spanish government. The government has recently hinted that BESS projects would have a fast track or special grid connection route due to the urgent need for building BESS capacity in the country.
Renewco will develop the projects to ready-to-build (RtB) status, with Atlantica then set to build and manage the portfolio. The 2.2 GW pipeline is still subject to securing grid connection.
Since launching in 2021, Renewco has built a team of over 50 renewables specialists, rapidly developing its 7 GW pipeline of solar, wind, BESS and green hydrogen projects across the UK, Spain, Italy and the US. Renewco now has a considerable presence in Spain and a development pipeline of wind, solar, BESS and GH2 projects.
Atlantica has a team of 1,400 employees and is present in 12 countries mainly in North America, Europe and South America. Atlantica has 2.2 GW of aggregate renewable energy installed generation capacity in operation. The Company has a strong presence in Spain with 682 MW of solar installed capacity and expects to continue growing in this country. In addition, Atlantica has a pipeline of approximately 3.0 GW of renewable energy and 12.0 GWh of storage of which 93% are located in North America and Europe.
Alp Karli, Renewco’s Chief Commercial Officer, commented: "We are delighted to start this partnership with Atlantica which we believe is set to have a positive impact on Spain's energy infrastructure. For our BESS development operations across Spain, we are looking forward to utilizing our experience in the UK and other markets which are ahead of Spain in deploying BESS in its grid infrastructure to enable the renewables transition."
Pedro Perejon, Renewco’s Country Manager Spain, added: “Renewco and Atlantica have considerable synergies and we are excited to be one of their deployment partners in BESS development and portfolio construction in Spain.”
Carlos Colon, Country Manager of Spain, commented: “We are thrilled to embark on this partnership with Renewco. The development of BESS solutions is pivotal in driving the energy transition in countries like Spain. By developing energy storage, we can ensure a reliable and stable power grid, enabling to further integrate renewable energy into our electricity mix and pave the way for a sustainable future."