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Capital Energy, one of the largest renewable energy platforms in the Iberian Peninsula, and VERBUND Green Power, a subsidiary of VERBUND, Austria’s leading energy company, have signed a strategic alliance for the development of pumped hydroelectric plants in Spain. The alliance will evaluate the possible construction of two pumped-stored hydro plants in Spain with a combined capacity of about 830 MW. Under the terms of the agreement, Capital Energy will lead the promotion of these plants within the joint venture, while VERBUND will be responsible for leading the construction and operation of the plants, as well as providing the necessary technical support during the development phase.
This is the second corporate agreement reached by VERBUND and Capital Energy in Spain regarding the implementation of clean energy projects. In 2022, the two energy companies signed a sale and purchase agreement for five wind and solar projects, with a combined capacity of 171 MW, located in three autonomous communities: Andalusia, Asturias and Extremadura.
Commenting on the signing, Juan José Sánchez, CEO of Capital Energy, said that "this new transaction with VERBUND, a leading European electricity company that is focused, like us, on promoting the energy transition, ratifies our commitment to the development of clean energy infrastructures, such as wind farms, photovoltaic plants or pumped-storage hydroelectric plants, which continue to promote the necessary process of decarbonization of the economy".
Enrique Barbudo, Managing Director of VERBUND Green Power Iberia, states: “VERBUND is Austria’s leading energy company and one of the largest hydropower producers in Europe. We are looking forward to implementing our expertise in hydropower in Spain and to complementing our already consolidated portfolio of wind and photovoltaic projects in the country. We remain committed to the deployment of renewable capacity in Spain to contribute to the achievement of the ambitious plans of the country’s National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC)".
VERBUND Green Power Iberia, present in Spain since 2021, currently has 630 MW of renewable energy capacity in operation in Spain, as well as 120 MW of capacity under construction. It also has a large portfolio of projects at an advanced stage of development.More information:
Capital Energy, a Spanish company with more than two decades of experience that has become one of the largest renewable energy platforms in the Iberian Peninsula, with a portfolio totalling around 25 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, is promoting an industrial project whose ultimate goal is to achieve an ecological and fair energy transition and for which it leverages the strengths of a 100% sustainable and digital business model.More information:
Serving the hydro power and dam construction industries since 1949
The difficulties in meeting government initiatives concerning renewable energy (RE) integration lie in its variability and unpredictability within the daily and hourly dispatch to match demand and generation. The challenge is to find a way to make energy created by RE resources available to meet changing demand. As the percentage of RE penetration grows, the risk of having a major system failure event from an unpredicted change of RE level will increase. Pumped storage offers the ability to store energy produced from RE resources when it is difficult to utilize these resources on the power grid or integrate them into the power system, and to release the energy at a time when it is most needed, most often during peak electrical demand, at a higher value.
To get a sense of the power generation mix in Spain, Table 1 shows the total installed capacity in 2012 was 108,296MW. Wind capacity in 2012 was 22,362MW or 20.6% of the total, as shown in Figure 1. Solar capacity was 6288MW or 5.8% of the total. Between 2011 and 2012, wind capacity increased by 1123MW and solar by 990MW. The share of renewable sources is expected to reach 38% in the future. Total generation was 287,251GWh, with wind producing 16.8% of the total generation and solar 4.1%.
Total peak demand in 2011 was 43,896 MW. For the period 2005-2011, electricity demand has remained between a low of 42,430MW in 2006 and a high of 45,450MW in 2007.
Looking more closely at pumped storage, in Spain, Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) can operate in the following three markets:
PSPs can also assist integrated utilities in better optimizing the operation and dispatch of other thermal power plants. This decreases operation and maintenance costs associated with reduced numbers of starts and stops or operation at lower output and efficiency levels.
In Spain, a day-ahead bidding exists for the various markets. A 100-second response time is currently required to serve the secondary market, and a response time of five minutes is deemed enough for tertiary market. Optimization of the cost of fast start-up of machinery is key. To be able to satisfy future market conditions involving the use of new pumped storage projects to integrate the renewable energy sources, specifically the wind power generation will require, a startup time of 100 seconds as a minimum standard. A shorter time, down to 60 seconds, could provide additional benefits in the future.
Below is a summary of several projects under planning, design or construction by the major utilities of Spain. The use of existing reservoirs is in part because the environmental constraints dictate that utilities are making maximum use of existing dams and reservoirs to develop new pumped storage projects.
Edrada (Gas Natural Fenosa)Gas Natural Fenosa (GNF) is planning the design and construction of the proposed 760-MW Edrada pumped storage project to be located between the existing Edrada and San Estaban reservoirs in Orense in northwestern Spain. The permitting process started in 2008, and a basic engineering for various components were complete in 2011. The powerhouse complex and waterways would be underground.
Salas-Conchas (Gas Natural Fenosa)The proposed 375-MW Salas Conchas pumped storage project will be located between the Salas reservoir and Las Conchas reservoir in Orense in northwestern Spain. GNF started the preliminary engineering and permitting process in 2008. As currently designed, this project would have an underground powerhouse complex and waterways.
Santa Cristina (Iberdrola) The Santa Cristina project is a 728-MW planned pumped storage project to be located in northwestern Spain using the existing San Estaban reservoir as the lower reservoir and an artificial upper reservoir is to be constructed. The construction is expected to start in 2013 and to be completed in 2018. The project, with a gross head 820 m, will have an underground powerhouse and waterways. The transmission interconnection will be via a newly constructed 10-km long, 400-kV transmission line.
Moralets II (Endesa)The Moralets II project is a 400-MW expansion of the existing Moralets pumped storage project. The existing plant has been in operation since 1985 and is located on Noguera Ribagorzana River in the northeastern part of Spain. The Moralets II expansion is under construction and is expected to come online in 2014. Similar to the existing Moralets plant, the Moralets II will have an underground powerhouse and waterways, largely paralleling the existing powerhouse and waterways.
In addition, Endesa is planning the development of the 550-MW Jabalcón pumped storage project in Zújar, Granada in southeastern Spain. This project would be expected to come online before 2020.
GNF is the biggest integrated gas and electricity company in Spain and the third biggest distributor of gas and electricity on the Iberian market, with 8,8 million connection points. The company ended 2011 with 15,392 MW of installed power, which generated 56,354 MWh. The combined cycle plants form the basis of the company’s mix, as they account for approximately 60.3% of its electricity generation capacity. The rest of the installed power is distributed as follows: coal power plants (13,3%), hydroelectric plants (12,5%), renewable energy (7%), fuel-oil-gas and fuel (3%) and nuclear (3,8%).
MWH is a global engineering and management consultant with more than 50 years of experience in pumped storage, having been involved with the design and rehabilitation of more than 7,800MW of pumped storage capacity in the US and 8,200MW internationally. The projects range from 40 to 2,100 MW in installed capacity. Along with several thousand megawatts in Europe, Africa and China, MWH has recently looked at more than 10,000 MW of new pumped storage capacity in the United States. MWH has been assisting GNF in its review and analysis of potential PS projects in Spain.
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Pumped storage and conventional hydroelectric power facility
Owned and operated by Spanish electric utility Iberdrola, the 1.8GW hydropower complex comprises the 290MW Cortes II conventional hydroelectric plant, the 634MW La Muela I and the 878MW La Muela II pumped storage power plants.
With the commissioning of the La Muela II pumped storage hydroelectric facility expansion in October 2013, the power complex is capable of producing 1,625GWh of clean electricity a year, which is enough to meet the annual power demand of approximately 400,000 households.
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