The Roads to Carbon Neutral - Season 5 - Episode 2 - Chasing the Sun
The Roads to Carbon Neutral - Season 5 - Episode 2
Chasing the Sun
The Roads to Carbon Neutral
The fifth season of our program entitled “The Roads to Carbon Neutral”, in partnership with CNBC Catalyst, provides an insight into the solutions and innovations making the transition to low-carbon energy a reality and helping us achieve a carbon-neutral future. These powerful on-the-ground stories are led by TotalEnergies’ employees.
For this second episode, we are heading to the Guillena solar power plants near Seville in Spain. Andalusia’s picture-postcard, sun-kissed landscapes provide the ideal setting for generating solar power. María Álvarez, Project Manager at TotalEnergies, takes us on a tour of the project and guides us through the facilities, where every ray of sunlight is converted into sustainable energy. Find out how these power plants with their innovative technologies is contributing to the Company’s sustainable development objectives, while reflecting our ambition to become a world leader in low-carbon electricity.
[Seville, Spain]
María Álvarez: The south of Spain has something truly special. With the olive trees, the sound of birds, the stunning landscape, all with this powerful sunshine. I grew up in a small town in the south of Spain. Spending time outdoors was part of my life. The sun, people, the culture. It is healthy and it is life. Spain has very ambitious climate goals. And as we progress, it's important that we continue to produce energy while being mindful of limiting the impact on the environment and local landscape that I love so much. Spain is a leading country in solar energy production, in Europe. We have over 3,000 hours of sunshine a year. Our government's goal is to achieve 81% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. The Guillena cluster, the five solar projects located in Guillena, are collectively the biggest TotalEnergies solar site in Europe. Part of my work is to secure the necessary permits for the project. We use bifacial tracking solar panel technology.
Jorge Robledo: Now we are fully operational. So we have around 395,000 panels in a tracking system, which is more efficient than the static ones because the panels are following the sun.
María Álvarez: As part of my job, I secure land plots and I was mindful of knowing each landowner in order to ensure that we were trying to cover their needs. That's like dealing with your extended family. We have a team of environmental engineers who have worked on-site from the very beginning. They work with local scientific institutions to ensure that the solar plant has minimal impact on the surrounding nature.
Deborah Herrera: This area of 1,000 square meters is protected so it can serve as a kind of island for the biodiversity that surrounds the plant. These are Palmito, a local protected species. We are going to create here several water points and also we encourage steppe birds who are vital for the Iberian biodiversity.
María Álvarez: We are giving access to more people to lower carbon energy and at the same time, we are respecting the balance of biodiversity. The energy will go directly into the grid and we sell energy solutions locally to businesses and consumers. During the construction, we involved many local people. We have created around 800 work positions. 125 of them were local. We have a real sense of community, yeah. This work is more than a job. Andalusia is about connection, sharing and passion. This project is part of that spirit. And it’s only by working together and valuing our natural resources that we can truly move to a more sustainable future.
Guillena: the solar epic in Andalusia
Located in a region in southern Spain that enjoys some 3,000 hours of sunshine a year, Guillena is TotalEnergies’ largest solar power cluster in Europe. It illustrates the Company’s commitment to build a more sustainable, environmentally-friendly energy future. Featuring 395,000 bifacial photovoltaic panels with a tracker system technology, the power plants capture not only direct sunlight, but also the light reflected off the ground, which significantly improves their efficiency compared to a more conventional facility. By tracking the sun’s path throughout the day, these panels bring greater consistency and performance to the energy production process. Combined with a robust commitment to preserve local biodiversity and give greater consideration to the local communities, this technology means that Guillena is a beacon of sustainable development.
Once the facilities have come on stream, the electricity produced by the plants will cover the annual needs of approximately 150,000 homes in the region, which is equivalent to a city like Salamanca in Spain. Overall, the Guillena solar power plants could contribute to a reduction of 140,000 tons of CO2 per year.
It’s important for us to continue producing energy while taking care to limit the impact on the environment and the local landscape that I love so much... we’ll bring low-carbon energy to more people while respecting the balance of biodiversity.María Álvarez Project Manager, TotalEnergies
The Guillena solar power plants in figures
Respect for biodiversity and commitment to the local communities
Special care has been taken to consider the project’s effect on the environment and preserve the wildlife and plant life. Engineers and scientists have worked hand in hand since day one of the project to minimize such impacts. For example, a biodiversity island has been created within the power cluster to ensure that both vegetation and animals can thrive. They can also take advantage of the water points that have been built in several places around the facilities.
Construction work on the plants has also created 800 jobs, with over 125 for local residents, and the focus has clearly been on working with companies in the Guillena region. At a time when Spain has announced a target of achieving 81% renewable energy by 2030, the electricity produced by the solar panels, which is fed directly into the grid, will provide people in the Seville region with access to low-carbon energy.
Our duty is to ensure that appropriate environmental measures are taken to avoid, reduce and offset the solar power plant’s impact on the surrounding biodiversity.María Álvarez Project Manager, TotalEnergies
TotalEnergies in Spain
TotalEnergies has 16 Sales & Customer Commercial shops in Spain, in convenient locations in cities and towns so the public can walk in and meet all their energy needs.
The residential market in Spain is a mature and competitive one, where TotalEnergies strives to make energy matters easy and flexible for everyone, all while maintaining the human touch. Gas, electricity, and maintenance services, along with e-mobility, combine to make TotalEnergies a strong player in the B2C space in Spain.
The Roads to Carbon Neutral
