Harvesting the sun in Spain Tordesillas solar power plant
16.05.2022 • 5 Reading Time
There is hardly a better location on the European continent than central Spain for a solar power plant. In the summer months, the sun shines here for up to ten hours, there is hardly any rain and the modules are 700 metres above sea level.
So it is no wonder that the investment at Tordesillas on the Spanish highlands northwest of Madrid has caught the eye of the klimaVest fund management. The solar power plant built in the small Spanish municipality under the direction of the internationally renowned project developer BayWa r.e. has recently been completed. With a rated output of more than 41 megawatts peak, it should be able to potentially produce 73 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year. This corresponds to the average annual demand of around 23,500 German households.
The special feature is a single-axis tracking carrier system
The single-axis tracking carrier system describes the installation of solar modules without inclination on a frame that can be tilted sideways (east-west) via an axis. The solar modules follow the sun permanently by means of a sensor. This increases the energy yield per module and thus the specific output over a period of one year.
Facts:
Located in the Spanish province of Valladolid, the solar park is expected to potentially generate 73 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of solar energy in its first year of operation. This corresponds to the average annual demand of around 23,500 German households.
- around 20,000 tonnes of potential CO₂ emissions saved per year
- 102,314 solar energy plants
- potentially 73 GWh green electricity per year
- In the fund portfolio since 30/10/2020
Income secured for the long-term
However, the excellent location quality and high-quality technical implementation are not the only factors that make Tordesillas so attractive to klimaVest. In addition to turnkey implementation, he works with BayWa r.e., a partner already proven in other collaborations with Commerz Real, and is responsible for the technical operational management and commercial management on site and therefore has a personal interest in the long-term success of the asset.
For example, a long-term bilateral power purchase agreement (PPA) with a major buyer provides for electricity sales for ten years in advance, thus securing a continuous cash flow. This agreement ensures that the plant will generate reliable yields even without subsidies and feed-in tariffs.
Staying ahead with a broad-based transaction team
Innovative projects such as the Tordesillas solar power plant are currently highly sought-after assets by investors, and the acquisition process requires a high level of expertise and professionalism from project teams on both sides. Here, the interdisciplinary Commerz Real team proved its worth with its network that has grown over decades and experience from the purchase and management of around 50 open-area solar power plants with a total of 420 megawatts peak output.
The very tight schedule required intensive teamwork to secure the solar power plant for klimaVest in competition with other well-known bidders. Commerz Real stood out against the international competition, particularly in terms of reliability, experience and professionalism. All in all, the deal was completed within just six weeks from the time exclusivity was gained until closing, which required exceptional teamwork on the parts of both the seller and buyer for a transaction of this size.
INVEST IN INFINITY
Invest in the full potential of unlimited resources - with klimaVest, the fund for renewable energy.
Find out more
² Calculated based on data from the Federal Statistical Office and the Federal Environment Agency, assuming that a German household consumed 3,111 kWh per year in 2018.
³ Calculated under the assumption that a football pitch can hold approx. 300 trees.
⁴ Calculated based on data from the Bavarian State Institute for Forestry (Leaflet 27) under the following assumptions for an average beech tree: 80 years of growth, 23 m high and 30 cm trunk diameter, which binds 1,000 kg of CO2 over its life cycle. 5 Source: http://www.wetter24.de/vorhersage/klima/spanien/tordesillas/1877812/. 6 Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz.
⁵ Calculated based on data from the Federal Statistical Office and the Federal Environment Agency, assuming that a German household consumed 3,106 kWh per year in 2019.
⁶ Calculated assuming that the plants generate and feed electricity in accordance with technical expertise and the avoidance factors of the Technical Working Group of International Financial Institutions (IFI) ( https://UNFCCC.int/sites/default/files/resource/IFI%20Default%20Grid%20Factors%202021%20v3.1_unfccc.xlsx), which comply with the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) standard and the upstream emission factors of the Federal Environment Agency ( https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/1410/publikationen/2021-12-13_climate-change_71-2021_emissionsbilanz_erneuerbarer_energien_2020_bf_korr-01-2022.pdf#page=54). The avoidance factors are gradually decreasing, as the share of renewable electricity in the electricity mix will increase in the future and less fossil fuel-based electricity can therefore be displaced. This justifies a lower CO2 avoidance with expectations regarding electricity generation remaining the same. The target can be both exceeded and fallen short of.