en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Basque Government (Gobierno Vasco) is advancing the approval process for 21 battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, with a total capacity of 1,403.326 MWh and a charge/discharge power of 352.61 MW. Six of these have already received administrative authorization, while the remaining 15 are at various stages of the approval process.

These projects are evenly distributed between the two historical territories of Álava and Bizkaia, with 10 projects having a capacity below 25 MWh. Currently, two energy storage systems are already in operation in the Basque Country, both commissioned in 2021 and connected to the Oiz and Elguea-Urkilla wind farms, respectively.

The Department of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability (Departamento de Industria, Transición Energética y Sostenibilidad) issued a resolution this Friday rejecting the applications for prior administrative authorization for 19 photovoltaic plants promoted by Solaria in the Basque Country, with a total capacity of 970.485 MW. The projects involved include Solaria Zierbena Solar 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 29, as well as their transmission infrastructure in Álava and the transmission infrastructure shared between Álava and Bizkaia; the corresponding files have been archived.

According to the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (BOPV), the rejection is based on two procedural grounds. First, the access and connection permits notified by Red Eléctrica (Spanish grid operator) have automatically lapsed, making it legally mandatory to reject the prior administrative authorization applications and archive the files. Second, the developer failed to obtain a favorable environmental impact statement within the deadline established by Royal Decree 23/2020, a circumstance that also renders the access and connection permits void and requires the execution of the corresponding financial guarantees.

This week, Solaria obtained a favorable environmental impact statement for its 600 MW agrivoltaic project in Spinazzola, Italy. The company has secured a €1.7 billion loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to deploy 5.6 GW of solar capacity in Spain, Italy, and Portugal, with plans to build approximately 120 photovoltaic plants.