Swiss Alpiq Energy Expands into Spain's Hydropower Sector, Securing Its First Overseas Hydropower Project

Recently, Switzerland's renowned energy group Alpiq Energy announced that it is steadily expanding its hydropower business in Spain and has officially taken over the local Navarrano pumped storage plant project. This is also the company's first hydropower project outside Switzerland, marking an important step in its layout of renewable energy in Europe.

It is reported that the pumped storage plant project is located in the Segovia-León region of Spain and is currently under construction. It is expected to be put into operation in the early 2030s, when it will be able to provide 535 megawatts (MW) of flexible power supply to the Spanish power grid, providing strong support for the stability of the local power system. 

As an energy enterprise headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, with operations in many European countries, Alpiq Energy's layout in Spain this time is an important measure to promote its strategy of flexible energy solutions in Europe.

The project was initially developed by Erbienergía, a renewable energy enterprise with "deep roots" in the local area. 

It has rich experience in the development of hydropower, wind power, solar energy and other fields, and holds a 75-year hydropower concession for the project, providing a guarantee for the long-term and stable progress of the project. 

Alpiq Energy stated that "this is an important investment in Spain's energy transition", but did not disclose the specific investment amount.

It is understood that this pumped storage plant adopts a closed-system design, which can store electrical energy for at least eight hours. 

This design can effectively store the excess power from intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind energy and solar energy, and release it during peak power consumption periods, helping to improve the flexibility and stability of the power system, while promoting the efficient integration of various renewable energy sources. 

Notably, the project is also committed to ecological and environmental protection, planning to transform an abandoned mine into a sustainable clean energy facility, and simultaneously carry out wastewater treatment, filtration of pollutants from past mining activities, and realize the ecological restoration and green transformation of industrial legacy sites.

At present, Erbienergía has become a shareholder of the project and will continue to provide support for the project development. 

As Alpiq Energy's first overseas hydropower project, the pumped storage plant is also one of the largest projects of its kind outside Switzerland. It will not only help Alpiq Energy "become an important participant in Spain's flexible power market", but also inject new impetus into Spain's energy transition.

In recent years, Spain's renewable energy has developed rapidly. In 2024, the power generation of renewable energy increased by 10.3% year-on-year, accounting for 56.8% of the country's total power generation. 

As an important part of it, hydropower plays a key role in ensuring grid stability and promoting the optimization of the energy structure. Industry insiders believe that Alpiq Energy's layout this time is not only in line with the development needs of Spain's energy transition, but also demonstrates its determination to expand the European renewable energy market, and it is expected to further deepen cooperation between the two sides in the field of clean energy in the future.