EDP Renewables connects Spain’s first wind-solar hybrid project to the grid

• This is the first hybrid in the country park that combines wind and solar energy at the same connection point.
• With this milestone, EDPR maintains its pioneering spirit in maximizing renewable energy production, as it was also the first company to commission the first hybrid projects in Portugal and Poland.

Madrid, January 17, 2024. EDP Renewables, a leading company in the development of renewable energies worldwide, announces the successful connection of Spain’s first wind-solar hybrid park to the grid.

Located in Santa María del Cubillo (Ávila), located northwest of Madrid, the “Cruz de Hierro” wind farm has 22 wind turbines, an installed capacity of 14.5 MW and has been in operation since 2000. Now, with the installation of more than 25,000 bifacial photovoltaic solar panels on the same site, the complex will significantly increase the production of renewable energy, with a combined installed capacity of 28.75 MW. Together, the two projects will produce more than 58 GWh of electricity per year, enough energy to supply the equivalent of more than 17,000 homes in the area annually.

EDPR was the first company in Spain to receive authorization to connect this plant, given by IDAE (Spanish acronym for Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving).

By adding solar technology to an operating wind project, EDPR is accelerating the region’s energy transition while avoiding more than 24,000 tons of CO₂ every year with the production of this energy, which is equivalent to the capture of more than 40,000 adult trees.

Connecting Spain’s first hybrid farm to the grid is a breakthrough in the country’s clean energy sector, as it maximizes the production of renewable energy at the same point and allows the energy transition goals to be achieved more quickly. In addition, it promotes the complementarity of energy sources, and when one source is inactive due to a possible lack of natural resources, the other can guarantee power and contribute to the stability of the electricity supplied to the grid, one of the main concerns of the sector.

“Commissioning the first hybrid project in Spain reinforces our commitment to develop pioneering clean energy projects in an efficient and sustainable manner in a key market for EDPR.  After having implemented similar projects in Portugal and Poland, we are delighted to be able to bring differentiating solutions to the Spanish energy transition,” says Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade, CEO of EDP Renewables.

With this project, EDP Renewables becomes the first company to launch projects with hybrid technologies in Spain, Portugal, and Poland. EDPR expects to put two other hybrid farms in Spain into operation in the coming months and has more than 15 wind-solar hybridization projects, which should add more than 230 MW of renewable capacity to Spain in the coming years.

Until 2026, the company plans to invest 20 billion euros in the development and implementation of renewable energies worldwide, of which 40% is earmarked for onshore wind energy and another 40% for large-scale solar energy. Spain continues to be a strategic country for EDP, with an installed capacity of nearly 2 GW between solar and wind energy, 444 MW in hydro, and where we are developing green hydrogen projects