Today marked the visit of the Regional Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Sustainable Development of Extremadura, Mercedes Morán, and the National Government Delegate in Extremadura, José Luis Quintana, to the construction site of the Campo de Arañuelo plant, Naturgy’s largest photovoltaic facility in Spain located in the province of Caceres (Extremadura), between the towns of Aldeacentenera and Torrecillas de la Tiesa. Raquel Pastor López, Director General of Industry, Energy and Mines of the Regional Government of Extremadura; Jose Antonio García Muñoz, National Government sub-delegate in Cáceres; and Antonio Jesús Sánchez, Director General of Industry and Energy, as well as the mayors of Aldeacentenera, Francisco Muñoz, and Torrecillas de la Tiesa, Tomás Sanchez, also participated in the visit.
Naturgy was represented at the event by Jesús San Emeterio, Director of Renewable Generation Spain; Juan Ferrero, Director of Renewable Development Spain; Elisa Ferrando, Head of Renewable Engineering and Construction Spain; and Ana Ruiz, Project Development Delegate in Extremadura. Naturgy’s management gave the authorities a guided tour and explained some of the new features of the project, such as the planned commissioning date of the end of 2026.
With a peak power of 300 MW, the new plant will produce around 515 GWh per year of renewable energy, equivalent to the electricity consumption of more than 157,000 homes. The facility will also help reduce CO2 emissions by more than 250,000 tonnes per year. Naturgy will invest more than 150 million euros in the facility, which covers an area of 290 hectares and will create more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction and operation.
Work began last April and is progressing according to schedule. “This action reaffirms Naturgy’s commitment to the development of the economy and energy system in Extremadura, where the group has already invested over 350 million euros in total and will produce close to 670 GWh of renewable energy by the end of the year”, explained Jesús San Emeterio.
Naturgy’s commitment to Extremadura
Extremadura is a region of high strategic value for Naturgy. The company has a total of seven operational projects, which will be joined by Campo de Arañuelo and Las Jaras in the future to reach a cumulative capacity of more than 650 MW. The company is also working on three hybridisation projects with storage technology totalling 64 MW of capacity for the El Encinar I, Los Naipes and Los Naipes II photovoltaic plants, as well as two further hybridisation projects with photovoltaic technology for the Merengue and Merengue II wind farms totalling 85 MW of capacity. All of these are currently undergoing the pertinent administrative procedures with the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge. In addition, Naturgy has other projects that are currently being analysed for future development.
During 2024, Naturgy contributed 420 GWh of renewable energy generated in its photovoltaic plants and wind farms in Extremadura to the Spanish electricity system, which represents more than 178% growth compared to the previous year.
