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New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Solar surge across Europe sees projects power ahead in Spain, France and Italy
4/6/2025
News
Europe’s solar momentum is growing as TotalEnergies commissions its largest solar cluster in Europe, Q Energy and Velto Renewables inaugurating an agri-solar farm in France, and Plenitude and Marelli launching three industrial PV projects and an energy community in Italy. Meanwhile, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park in the United Arab Emirates has set a new world record for CSP plant operation.
TotalEnergies commissions its largest solar power plant cluster in Europe
Located near Seville in south-west Spain, the cluster consists of five solar projects. It comprises some 400,000 bifacial solar panels with trackers, with a total installed capacity of 263 MW. The solar cluster will produce 515 GWh per year of renewable electricity, equivalent to the consumption of over 150,000 Spanish households, and will avoid 245,000 t/y of CO2 emissions, reports the company.
Most of the electricity produced will be sold through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) and the rest will be sold on the wholesale market.
The solar cluster has been declared to be of ‘strategic interest’ by the Junta de Andalucía (the regional government). It has provided a significant economic boost to the local economy, involving 14 companies, of which more than a half are Sevillian, and generating 800 direct and indirect jobs.
‘This project is contributing to Spain’s ambition of 80% of renewables in its mix by 2030,’ says Olivier Jouny, Senior Vice President Renewables at TotalEnergies. The company claims to be the fourth largest provider of electricity, gas and related services in Spain, with more than 2 million residential and professional customers.
TotalEnergies currently has 28 GW of installed renewable capacity globally and aims to reach 35 GW by the end of 2025. Its longer-term goal is more than 100 TWh of net electricity production by 2030.
Q Energy and Velto Renewables inaugurate agri-solar farm in France
In neighbouring France, the newly inaugurated La Gineste solar farm in the southern city of La Tourette-Cabardès, Aude, is equipped with more than 15,200 solar modules. The 9 MWp plant will generate enough renewable electricity to power approximately 5,500 residences annually, while avoiding the release of 2,850 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere each year, claim the project developers Q Energy and Velto Renewables.
The land is also being used for livestock grazing, with the partial shade from the solar panels helping to protect the flock from extreme weather. Native hedgerows have been planted to help the site blend into the landscape, while wildlife corridors and educational signage near public trails aim to support biodiversity and community engagement.
Plenitude and Marelli to build three solar plants and an ‘energy community’ in Italy
Meanwhile, Plenitude and automotive industry supplier Marelli have signed an agreement for the construction of solar farms at Marelli’s production sites in Melfi (Basilicata), Sulmona (Abruzzo) and Turin (Piedmont). They will have a total installed capacity of 5.4 MWp. The projects will be carried out under an energy performance contract (EPC) model, allowing Marelli to obtain renewable energy at a fixed cost without any initial investment.
At the Melfi site, Plenitude has also designed an ‘energy community’ for Marelli. The 999 kWp capacity solar farm will be installed on land owned by Marelli, who will share the energy produced with a neighbouring company. Once operational, the plant will benefit from 20-year state incentives, with a portion of the funds allocated to support social initiatives in the area hosting the plant.
The Sulmona and Turin solar farms will have installed capacities of 4 MWp and 400 kWp, respectively.
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park sets a world record
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has set a new Guinness World Record for the longest continuous concentrated solar power (CSP) plant operation at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park in the United Arab Emirates.
The CSP project, part of the solar park’s 950 MW fourth phase, achieved 39 days of uninterrupted service.
Receiving the certificate from the Guinness World Records Official Adjudicator, HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, CEO of DEWA, said: ‘The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park, the largest single-site solar park in the world using the independent power producer model, is our most important project to achieve the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050, to provide 100% of the Emirate’s energy production capacity from clean sources by 2050. We are working to increase the solar park’s planned production capacity to 7,260 MW by 2030, raising clean energy’s share in Dubai’s energy mix to 34%.’
The solar park has previously set three records for the tallest CSP tower at 263.12 metres; the largest thermal energy storage plant, with a capacity of 5,907 MWh using CSP based on a parabolic basin complex and molten salt technology; and the highest capacity single-operator concentrated solar power plant at 700 MW.
The fourth phase of the solar park uses three hybrid technologies to produce clean energy. Some 600 MW will come from the CSP parabolic basin complex, 100 MW from the CSP tower and 250 MW from photovoltaic solar panels.
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park in the United Arab Emirates has been awarded a fourth Guinness World Record
Photo: DEWA
