Grenergy multiplies Oasis de Atacama with the acquisition of 1GW solar from Repsol and Ibereólica

grenergy has announced the expansion of its flagship project Atacama Oasis, the world's largest battery storage project, with the acquisition of a 1GW solar portfolio of Repsol and Iberoólica.

 

With this acquisition, grenergy will invest 128 million dollars, which will double the photovoltaic solar generation capacity of Atacama Oasis from 1GW to 2GW and will increase its storage capacity to 11GWh, from the current 4.1GWh. This will allow the project to supply energy equivalent to the annual consumption of a city like Madrid, reinforcing its key role in the energy transition.

 

The transaction includes a 77MW solar project and another 923MW in various stages of development. The 1GW interconnection line, already built and energized, will facilitate the connection of the new projects under development, accelerating their start-up.

 

"This is just the first step of what's to come. Investments in batteries are going to multiply worldwide, and this project will position us as a leader in the sector," he stated. David Ruiz de Andrés, CEO of Grenergy.

 

Despite the magnitude of the expansion, the company maintains its financial plan presented in the Capital Markets Day, with a total investment of 2.600 billion euros for the period 2023-2026, without requiring additional financial resources to carry out this investment.

 

Located in Chile, the project Atacama Oasis will produce approximately 5.5 TWh of energy per year, which will be transferred to non-solar hours. This energy will save the emission of 1.4 million tons of CO2, equivalent to the consumption of 300.000 cars per year.

 

Project progress

The first phase of Oasis de Atacama is scheduled to be connected by the end of 2024, while the remaining phases will be connected mainly between 2025 and 2026. Grenergy has already agreed to sell power from the first four phases and is in advanced negotiations for the remaining phases.

 

Recently, Grenergy closed the financing of the first two phases for 345 million dollars with leading banking entities such as BNP Paribas, Natixis, Société Générale, The Bank of Nova Scotia and SMBC, which underlines the sector's confidence in this ambitious project.

 

For the supply of large-scale storage systems, the company signed a strategic agreement with BYD, a high-tech company, covering 3GWh and representing the largest agreement to date for the Asian multinational.