- The company signed an agreement with IB Vogt for the construction of a 245 MW photovoltaic project in Sicily.
- The plant will provide clean energy to over 140,000 homes.
- By 2025 Iberdrola expects to have an installed capacity of 400 MW.
Iberdrola has signed an agreement with IB Vogt for the construction of a 245 MW solar PV project, called Fénix, in the Sicily region of Italy. It will be the largest solar PV plant ever to go into construction in the country.
The project will begin construction in March, marking a major milestone in solar PV development in Italy, where only 60 existing plants exceed a capacity of 10 MW and the current average capacity size is 26 MW.
In the future, an additional 60 MW could be added to the project, bringing the total capacity to 305 MW.
When it comes into operation, with its 424,638 photovoltaic modules, the plant will generate around 400 GWh per year, providing enough clean energy to cover the needs of over 140,000 homes and avoiding the emission of 119,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. Furthermore, it is expected to create direct local employment for approximately 500 workers during the construction phase and more than 100 stable jobs during the commercial operation phase.
In 2022, Iberdrola commissioned its first 23 MW solar PV plant in Italy, located in Montalto di Castro, Lazio. In the same region, in 2023 the company also completed its second solar plant in Montefiascone (7 MW) and started the construction of a further 32 MW solar plant in Tarquinia. In addition to the Fenix project, two other solar plants, Limes 10 and Limes 15, of 18 MW and 36 MW respectively, will begin construction in the first half of 2024. Three more projects are also scheduled for the second half of the year and already have all necessary permits.
In total, the multinational, the largest utility in Europe by market capitalization, and second in the world, will have 330 MW under construction in Italy in 2024 and another 40 MW at the beginning of 2025, reaching an installed capacity of 400 MW and placing itself among the main renewable operators in the country.
“We have already taken major steps forward in our renwables development in Italy, and our growth in the country does not stop”, says Valerio Faccenda, Country Manager of Iberdrola Renewables in Italy. He explained, “Iberdrola has laid solid foundations to achieve our 2030 and 2035 objectives, with a 100% renewable portfolio of more than 115 wind, photovoltaic and storage projects in advanced development to deliver a total capacity of 5 GW.”
The agreement for the construction of Fénix is at the forefront of the growth path Iberdrola has undertaken so far in Italy, and reinforces the importnat contributuion that the company is making towards Italy’s energy security, supporting the decarbonisation goals of large industrial customers, through the supply of renewable energy via long-term energy contracts.
