Iberdrola signs Spain's first long-term PPA with a pharmaceutical company

Iberdrola has signed a 10-year power purchase agreement with pharmaceutical giant Bayer, marking Spain's first PPA between a utility and a pharma company. The deal strengthens Bayer's commitment to sustainability by securing green electricity for all its sites in Spain, including three manufacturing plants, five research and development centres and central facilities servicing the whole Iberian Peninsula. The deal will be effective in 100% of these centres from 2022 with the electricity generated by the Francisco Pizarro photovoltaic plant Europe's largest planned photovoltaic plant. Iberdrola will build the solar PV project in Extremadura. The project will generate enough clean energy to supply 375,000 people annually and prevent the emission of 245,000 tonnes of CO2'into the atmosphere each year. Beyond its environmental contribution, the new investment in this PV project - which will amount to €300 million ($357 million) ' will help to reactivate the supply chain and job creation in the community, involving up to more than 1,000 professionals. Iberdrola and Bayer continue to contribute together to the transition towards a green economy, following the PPA agreed by both companies in Mexico whereby the pharmaceutical company buys green energy generated by the 105MW Santiago onshore wind farm in the state of Guanajuato. In 2019, Bayer announced its commitment to achieving an emission-neutral footprint worldwide by 2030. Eduardo Insunza, Iberdrola's global director for large customers, said: "PPAs open up many opportunities for the development of renewable projects which are transforming the present and future of energy in our country while contributing to the transition to a green economy. "These long-term energy purchase contracts bring stability to the company's investments. They have also become an optimal tool for managing the electricity needs of large consumers, committed to clean and sustainable supply. PPAs demonstrate the competitiveness of renewables and their ability to supply energy at affordable and stable prices in the long term." Laura Dieguez, director of communications, corporate public affairs and sustainability at Bayer, adds: "Working with experts such as Iberdrola makes this commitment effective almost immediately, while we contribute to develop the infrastructure Europe needs to build a greener and more environmentally friendly future." This story was originally published on Power Engineering International