Norwegian power company Statkraft has secured more than EUR 38 million (USD 43.3m) in Spanish public funding to repower old wind farms with a combined capacity of more than 320 MW across Spain and add battery storage at some of the sites.
The funding was awarded under the second round of Spain's REPOTEN circular repowering programme, administered by the Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE) and financed through the European Union's NextGenerationEU recovery fund, Statkraft said on Jul 1.
The grants will support the modernisation of the company's Serras Faro-Farelo wind farms in Galicia, the Aerosur complex in Andalusia and the Paramo de Poza wind farms in Castile and Leon. The upgrade projects represent a combined investment of more than EUR 300 million, Statkraft said.
In Galicia, Statkraft plans to repower the 168-MW Serras Faro-Farelo complex by replacing 80 turbines commissioned in 2005 with 25 higher-capacity machines. The project will also include installation of a 127-MW/254-MWh battery energy storage system (BESS).
At the 54.4-MW Aerosur complex in Cadiz province, the company plans to reduce the number of turbines from 34 to a maximum of nine while slightly increasing installed capacity. The site will also include a 13-MW BESS with 38 MWh of storage.
In Burgos province, the 100-MW Paramo de Poza I and II wind farms will be upgraded by replacing 130 existing turbines with 14 new machines.
Statkraft said all of the projects it submitted under the latest funding round were selected.
The company is currently repowering its Montes de Cierzo wind farm in Spain's Navarre region. Its Malpica wind farm in Galicia was repowered in 2017 in what was one of the first such upgrades in the country. A year ago, Statkraft received environmental approval to install a BESS at Malpica.
