en.Wedoany.com Reported - Acciona Energía has made new progress on the Irene pumped storage hydropower plant project in the Navarre region of Spain, with the water intake permit application now entering the public consultation process. The plant, with an installed capacity of 804 megawatts and an investment of nearly €900 million, is the first facility of its kind in Spain.
The Irene project is located in the Alaitz mountain range, spanning the municipalities of Elorz Valley and Tiebas-Muruarte de Reta. The plant is designed with an installed capacity of 804 megawatts, expandable to 900 megawatts, and features three reversible units, each with a capacity of 268 megawatts, using vertical-axis Francis pump-turbines. The maximum water flow in power generation mode is 140.4 cubic meters per second, while the maximum pumping capacity is 107.1 cubic meters per second.
The plant is equipped with two reservoirs, each with a capacity of 3.75 cubic hectometers, with a drop height of approximately 630 meters between them. They are connected by a system of underground excavated pipes, shafts, and hydraulic tunnels. The project also includes an underground cavern power station housing the generating units and power transformers, as well as a 400-kilovolt indoor GIS substation. Electricity is transmitted via an approximately 11-kilometer-long high-voltage underground transmission line, connecting to the Muruarte substation owned by Red Eléctrica, the Spanish grid operator.
Despite the ongoing administrative procedures, the project has not yet obtained all necessary permits. It is still awaiting the transmission network access permit and grid connection approval, which are prerequisites for determining the final construction schedule. Public documents set 2035 as a reference target for commissioning, but the actual timeline depends on the pace of remaining administrative approvals and the evolution of Spain's specific regulatory framework for pumped storage hydropower plants.
The Irene project has been recognized by the European Union as a "Project of Common Interest" (PCI), aimed at enhancing electricity storage capacity and promoting the integration of renewable energy into the grid, further affirming the project's strategic importance in Europe's future energy network.
