The Board of Directors of Aena, the public company that manages Spanish airports, recently approved the award of the Photovoltaic Solar Plant at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport to Constructora San José, for 99,113,906.97 euros.
«The objective of this action is the design, execution, and commissioning of the airport’s photovoltaic solar park, which will have a peak power of 142.42 MWp and a nominal power of 120 MWn. To this end, the company said in a press release, «the successful bidder will carry out the engineering, supply, construction, commissioning, and maintenance of the park».
The plant will be the largest renewable energy production plant in the airport infrastructure globally and is part of Aena’s plan to achieve 100% electricity supply for all its airports by 2026.
Photovoltaic – or solar – energy represents a way of generating 100% renewable energy from the radiation emitted by the sun. Its production is inexhaustible and does not pollute, making it a great initiative that contributes to reducing the industry’s environmental impact.
Aena also informed that «the facilities will occupy an area equivalent to 353 soccer fields and will be located in different plots within the airport grounds. Likewise, its more than 235,000 photovoltaic modules will generate 212 GWh of energy per year, which is the average consumption of 65,000 homes per year».
The airport that serves the city of Madrid will also have another photovoltaic plant – 7.5 MW nominal of total self-consumption, which is scheduled to be commissioned in 2023.
Aena’s Photovoltaic Plan
The airport management company initiated the Photovoltaic Plan in 2020, within the framework of its Climate Action Plan, which seeks to supply its entire network with renewable energies by 2026.
The projected infrastructure for the Plan «will have a production of 950 GWh/year of renewable energy equivalent to the consumption of 295,000 households/year and an investment of more than 350 million euros. This plan, which will be carried out through photovoltaic installations in several of the company’s airports, is unique in the sector both in terms of the power installed and the surface area of our facilities, which will cover more than 720 hectares. All this will place the company as a leader among European airports in terms of renewable energy production for airport infrastructures,» they said.
