Heineken Spain and power company Iberdrola have signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) related to a photovoltaic project the Spanish utility wants to build in the southern region of Andalusia.
The agreement will guarantee green electricity to Heineken’s four breweries in Spain – in Madrid, Valencia, Seville and Jaén – and to its offices. The contract “will allow Heineken to become a 100% carbon-neutral brewer in 2023”, the companies said in a joint statement.
The power supply deal foresees construction of a PV plant at El Andévalo, in the province of Huelva. The electricity provided by the project, which is expected to begin commercial operation this year, will exclusively power the production of all Heineken beers in Spain.
PV at wind farm
The 50 MW solar park will be built at the largest wind power complex in continental Europe, the 292 MW El Andévalo wind farm, which has been operated by fossil fuel company Iberdrola since 2010.
Iberdrola last week secured a long term PPA to provide telecoms business Orange with 200 GWh of clean power annually across 9,000 of its sales offices and buildings in Spain. That deal is related to a 328 MW solar park the utility plans to build in the municipalities of Ceclavín and Alcántara, in Spain’s Extremadura region.
A recent report published by German consultancy Enervis Energy Advisors stated Spain is the most attractive European market for solar projects holding PPAs, with 4.39 GW of contracted capacity.