Spanish and Portuguese utility Endesa, part of Enel, has provisionally won 953MW of connection rights to build renewable energy resources and battery storage in Andorra, possibly rising to 1,200MW.

The Ministry of Fair Transition of Andorra, a microstate sandwiched between France and Spain, has granted Endesa the provisional 953MW connection rights through its subsidiary Enel Green Power Spain.

The proposed project will combine wind, solar, battery energy storage and green hydrogen to help local industry decarbonise. It includes an option to expand the connection to 1,200MW.

Endesa will build five solar plants and five wind plants supported by a battery energy storage system. The latter ‘will make it possible to make the most of renewable production’, indicating it will charge and store surplus energy generated by the resources.

It has not revealed the planned capacities of the various resources or storage, nor a timeline for construction. General director of generation Rafael González said building work had already started on a solar PV array at the site of Endesa’s former lignite fired power plant (pictured).

The company will invest €1.2 billion (US$1.16 billion) in the project and create 3,500 jobs during the construction phase and 300 permanent ones. It said it will train people from the local area, promote local sustainable tourism and commerce and support groups of people with disabilities.

Endesa’s winning project in Andorra is similar to one it recently won 224MVA connection rights for in Portugal, as reported by Energy-Storage.news. The company will invest €600 million in deploying 365MWp of solar energy, 264MW of wind energy with integrated BESS of 168.6MW and a 500kW electrolyser which will produce green hydrogen, in the Abrantes region.