Total announces 2 GW solar project portfolio in Spain

• The French oil company will enter the booming Spanish market through subsidiary Total Solar International thanks to agreements with Powertis and Solarbay Renewable Energy to develop 2 GW of generation capacity.

French oil company Total has more than doubled its commitment to Spanish solar just days after announcing the formation of a joint venture with Spanish developer Powertis for the construction of 800 MW of solar plant generation capacity in the country.

With those planned projects all holding power supply deals, Total has now agreed to acquire a further 1.2 GW collection of PV projects which are being developed by another Spanish company – Solarbay. The latter projects are planned for the autonomous communities of Andalucía, Aragón and Castilla-La Mancha.

The first of the Solarbay projects is expected to be operational this year and all the generation assets in both portfolios are expected to be operational in 2023.

The deal announced last week will see Total hold a 65% stake in Powertis' 800 MW Spanish portfolio. "The development of the projects within the framework of this agreement will involve an estimated investment of €700 million in addition to contributing to the reduction of approximately 750,000 tonnes of CO2," said Total at the time.

Julien Pouget, senior VP for renewables at Total, said: "Total is pleased to enter on this fast-growing market through partnerships with local developers."