Spanish firm Aresol proposes 360 MW of solar projects in Spain's wine region

• Spanish renewables designer Aresol is promoting 9 solar farm projects with an incorporated capacity of around 360 MW in La Rioja, a famed wine area in northern Spain.

The company stated in a recent press release that it prepares to invest EUR 270 million (USD 304.2 m) to develop the plants in the municipalities of Cidamon, Banares and also Hervias without stepping on any type of wineries.

Allowing for the projects is being handled by La Rioja's local ministry of sustainability and also ecological change, which opened up a public assessment period on the proposals.

Aresol did not give details on private systems, but according to public records in La Rioja, the projects are jointly named Casafuerte and also numbered I with IX.

The largest solar farms in the group will certainly be Casafuerte I and also II, each of 50 MWp of capacity, while the 10.56-MWp Casafuerte V will certainly be the smallest. Various other plants are made to have over 37 MW yet below 49.9 MW, according to the files.

One more part of the whole effort will certainly be the launch of four side projects in the location, consisting of conducting training of citizens in the solar PV installation, PV-integrated beekeeping and also agrivoltaics, Aresol claimed in the press launch.

The firm expects to start construction in late 2022 and also appoint the solar farms in very early 2024.

La Rioja is one of the areas in mainland Spain with the least amount of set up renewable resource capacity. At the end of 2020, the region had 603 MW of renewables-- 99 MW of solar, 448 MW of wind, 52 MW of hydro and also 4 MW of renewables identified as various other, according to Spain's grid driver Red Electrica de Espana.