Artificial intelligence (AI) requires no small amount of energy to do its work. Against this backdrop, Swiss electricity provider and green energy developer Edisun Power is building a large solar park in Fuencarral with a planned capacity of 941 megawatts. The plant, located north-west of Madrid, will supply data centres with clean solar power.
Feed-in not only via grid access
Edisun aims to tap into the rising electricity demand from AI applications and stricter European rules for low-emission data centre operations under the European Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). To better serve data centres, the grid connection will allow both feeding in solar power and drawing energy from the grid.
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All approvals received
The project consists of three separate developments. Edisun has already secured grid access, environmental clearance (Declaracion de Impacto Ambiental - DIA), and administrative approval. The official building permit has also been granted.
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Search for investors underway
To manage the risks of such a huge project, Edisun is acquiring extra special purpose vehicles from Smartenergy. In return, it is selling its 159-megawatt Italian project portfolio to Smartenergy. Meanwhile, Edisun is actively seeking investors, conssiting primarily of infrastructure funds, private equity holders or data centre operators, to finance the plant. Talks are also underway with a banking consortium about construction financing. Smartenergy has agreed to buy back the Fuencarral project if this falls through. (su)
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