The project involving the construction of Iberdrola’s new Alcántara II reversible hydroelectric pumping station in Spain has obtained a favorable Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), according to a resolution of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
Now that the project has a favorable EIS and a permit for access to the grid, Iberdrola and is awaiting the next issuance of the prior administrative authorization.
Alcántara II will be located in Alcántara (Extremadura, in southwest Spain).
This reversible pumped-storage power plant will have an installed capacity of 440 MW, allowing energy storage of 16 million kWh, equivalent to the average daily consumption of more than 4 million people, and providing a firmness to the electricity system of up to 37 hours with the machines at full load. The plant will be able to generate more than 1,000 additional GWh per year using the same water resources as before, Iberdrola said.
With regard to its design, the plant will use the reservoirs created by existing dams. The new plant will connect the lower reservoir of Cedillo and the upper reservoir of Alcántara by means of a double underground hydraulic circuit 0.9 km long and will take advantage of the difference in height between the reservoirs of up to 108 m by means of two reversible turbines.
Taking into account the environmental and heritage conditions of the surroundings, all the hydraulic circuits have been designed underground, including the power plant, which has been designed in a shaft, Iberdrola said.
The project was awarded €44.9 million (US$50 million) last July by the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) for being considered “the best proposal in terms of economic viability and technical characteristics enabling the integration of renewables,” and having obtained the maximum aid per installed capacity and the highest total score in the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, Next GenerationEU, which is financed by the European Union.
Earlier this year, Iberdrola’s 275 MW Valdecañas pumped storage project in Cáceres, Spain, received administrative authorization from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge. It will include a battery system hybridized with the hydro generator units. The 15 MW battery can provide 7.5 MWh of stored energy when fully charged. The battery and hydropower units together have an energy reserve of 210 GWh.