The Alto Vinalopó region, and especially Villena, has become the pole of attraction for large Spanish and some international corporations to carry out their investments in photovoltaic installations. In addition to the projects announced by subsidiaries of ACS, Iberdrola, Atitlán, the German company Abo Wind, the British company Hive Energy and companies in which Bankinter has a stake, there is now a new project by Repsol Electricidad y Gas.
In this way, Villena and the Vinalopó region, and other surrounding areas such as the Foia de Castalla, have become the main photovoltaic energy production team in the Valencia Region, despite the criticism that certain projects have generated from environmental groups and the measures adopted by different town councils that have shielded their municipalities to put order in the face of the arrival of multiple plants. For the moment, Villena is “studying the possibility of creating a Special Plan that does not shield against the arrival of photovoltaic plants, but rather delimits the areas where it is appropriate to have them”.
Repsol’s project was processed on 2 July and contemplates an investment of 57,481,708 euros. The Directorate General for Energy Policy and Mines of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge is responsible for resolving the administrative request, and previously, the competent environmental body to issue the Environmental Impact Statement is the Directorate General for Environmental Quality and Assessment of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
As in most of the projects already in the pipeline, the evacuation infrastructure will be the Sax 400 substation, owned by Red Eléctrica. Repsol’s project is only comparable to that of ACS, which intends to install a 140 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic plant in the area, which would make it, at least for the moment, the most powerful of those promoted in Villena. The investment budget amounts to 76.4 million euros.
