Audax signs largest solar energy deal

Audax Renovables SA has formalized an agreement with WElink Investment Holdings (Ireland) Ltd. that marks a historic milestone in the European energy market for energy produced with solar photovoltaic technology.

The framework power purchase agreement (PPA) with WElink has been established for 20 years at a fixed price and in it Audax will acquire the energy produced by the Solara4 photovoltaic plant, the Ourika plant and other new photovoltaic projects that will be developed by WElink Group, both in Spain and Portugal, with plans to reach a total of 708 MW of installed power. The Solara4 plant, which is being built in Alcoutim (Algarve), is estimated to be connected to the grid in mid-2019. It will be made up of 700,000 high-efficiency solar modules and will be the largest subsidy-free solar plant in Europe backed by a Long-term private PPA. The facility will have a capacity of 218.8 MWp, will employ an average of 300 people during construction and will generate enough energy to supply renewable energy to more than 100,000 homes.

Added to this plant is the Ourika plant, located in the south of Portugal, which is also developed by WElink Group and represented by Audax Renovables SA. Its capacity amounts to 46 MWp and occupies the area equivalent to 100 football fields, with more than 142,000 high-efficiency photovoltaic panels and a production capacity of 82 GWh/year, which currently makes it the largest photovoltaic solar plant in Portugal.

This PPA contributes to consolidating the position of Audax Renovables SA in the European market and especially in the Portuguese market, where it occupies the sixth position as a supplier to small businesses and the seventh marketer of industrial clients, according to the Liberalized Electricity Market Report (December 2018) published by ERSE, Entidade Reguladora dos Serviços Energticos. The contract will cover a large part of the energy that Audax needs to supply its clients in Portugal, which will allow it to offer them energy from renewable 100% sources free of greenhouse gas emissions. At a global level, the amount of energy covered by PPA is equivalent to only 25% of the total energy marketed by the Audax Group.

According to data from the Government of Portugal, until 2021 in Portugal it is planned that 31 new photovoltaic plants will be built, a total of 1,100 megawatts (MW) of which Audax will manage 267 MWp, that is, Audax will manage a quarter of all new plants photovoltaics in Portugal.

In March 2018 Audax already signed a PPA with COX ENERGY, a contract that also marked a historic milestone in the global energy market by becoming the largest agreement signed for the purchase of energy produced with solar photovoltaic technology to date, which now has been surpassed by this one. The PPA with COX ENERGY covers a total volume of 660 MW of installed power, sufficient to supply about 1,300 GW/h per year of renewable energy or green energy to 360,000 homes.

The objective of Audax Renovables is to continue betting on renewable energies in the future and close new projects and PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements) that will give it an advantageous position in the global energy market.