“This is just the first step of what is to come. Investments in batteries will multiply worldwide and this project will allow us to be a benchmark in the sector,” said David Ruiz de Andrés, Executive President of Grenergy.
Spanish renewable energy company Grenergy announced on Monday the purchase - for around 128 million dollars - of solar projects in northern Chile.
The renewable energy company informed the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV, the Spanish stock market regulator) of the purchase from the Spanish companies Repsol and Ibereólica of 100% of an operational project of 77 MWp; and 923 MWp of solar projects in different stages of development.
EFE Agency reported that this project currently has a 1GW interconnection line built and energized, which will facilitate the connection process of the projects under development.
With this operation, Grenergy will expand its most important project, Oasis de Atacama, with two new phases, and will allow it to be increased by 1GW of solar power and at least 6GWh of battery storage.
According to the company, Oasis de Atacama is “the largest storage project in the world with a capacity of 4.1 GWh and almost 1 GW of solar energy.”
“This is just the first step of what is to come. Investments in batteries will multiply worldwide and this project will allow us to be a benchmark in the sector,” said David Ruiz de Andrés, Executive President of Grenergy in a statement this morning.
In the same statement, the company reported that it earned a net profit of around US$557,000 in the first half of 2024, 89% less than the nearly US$4.5 million earned a year earlier.
Gross operating profit (EBITDA) increased by 43% to US$34.54 million, while revenue fell by 15% to US$214 million.
Grenergy, EFE Agency added, closed the first half of the year with a net debt of more than US$ 820 million.
Atacama Oasis Project
Regarding the Oasis de Atacama project, the company expects it to produce around 5.5 TWh (terawatts per hour) of energy annually, which will be transferred to non-solar hours.
"This energy is equivalent to the annual consumption of a city like Madrid and will save around 1.4 million tons of CO2, which is the equivalent of the consumption of 300,000 cars per year," the firm explained.
The first phase of Oasis de Atacama is scheduled to be connected by the end of 2024, with the remaining phases expected to be connected mainly between 2025 and 2026.
Grenergy has already agreed to sell energy from the first four phases, with the rest of them in an advanced negotiation phase.
Recently, the bank closed the financial transaction for the first two phases of Oasis de Atacama for 345 million dollars with BNP Paribas, Natixis, Societe Generale, The Bank of Nova Scotia and SMBC, leaders in the international banking sector, "which demonstrates the sector's confidence in this ambitious project," it said in a statement.
For the supply of large-scale storage systems, it has signed a strategic agreement with BYD, which already reaches 3GWh and represents the largest agreement to date for the Asian multinational.
