photovoltaicsCartuja solar farm 

About the installation

Ideal location at the sunniest tip of Europe

Cartuja Solar Park is located near the southern Spanish city of Jerez de la Frontera in the Cadiz region on the Atlantic Ocean. The region is one of the leading renewable energy locations in Europe. Andalusia expanded its solar capacity by over 30 percent in 2024.¹

The Cartuja solar farm has been on the grid since October 2021 and has a peak output of 50 megawatts. The plant covers 132 hectares and uses 94,308 bifacial modules, each with 530 watts of power on single-axis tracking systems. 18 central inverters convert the direct current into alternating current, which is fed via a 43-megawatt grid connection. The solar park generates around 1.8 gigawatt hours of electricity per year. 

Operation by experienced partners

The ABEI Energy project developer is responsible for the technical maintenance and commercial operation of the solar park on site. The seller was the Spanish renewables fund manager Everwood Capital, which held 90 per cent of the shares, together with ABEI Energy as a minority shareholder with 10 per cent. The solar park was financed by Liberbank with a project financing volume of EUR 25 million. 

Spain: Focus on renewable energies

Spain saw another shift in the energy mix in 2024: At 25.1 percent of installed capacity, solar achieved a slightly higher figure than wind at 24.9 percent for the first time. In 2024, the country added a total of 7.3 gigawatts of new renewable capacity, including 6 gigawatts of solar energy. At the end of 2024, the total installed capacity was 129 gigawatts, of which 66 percent was attributable to renewable energies. Renewables generated a total of 149 terawatt hours in 2024 and covered 56.8 percent of electricity demand.²

Expansion targets by 2030 

The national energy and climate plan PNIEC 2023-2030 stipulates that around 81 percent of electricity should come from renewable energies by 2030. 76 gigawatts of solar capacity are planned, including 19 gigawatts of self-consumption, 62 gigawatts of onshore wind power and 3 gigawatts of offshore wind power. The share of renewable energies in total final energy consumption is to increase to 48 percent. The plan is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 32 percent compared to 1990 and improve energy efficiency by 43 percent. In addition, the development of 12 gigawatts of electrolysis capacity for green hydrogen is planned.³

Regional developments 

The Andalusia region aims to cover around 82 percent of its electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030. The region benefits from high solar radiation and uses it for solar energy projects.⁴ In 2024, CO₂ emissions from electricity generation in Spain fell to 27 million tonnes - a decrease of 16.8 percent compared to the previous year.²

klimaVest expands activities in Spain

Cartuja continues klimaVest’s expansion in Spain, which began in 2021 with the Tordesillas solar park. Spain is one of the important markets in the klimaVest portfolio with a country allocation of 12.5 percent. The transaction underlines klimaVest’s commitment to one of the most important European renewable energy markets. The fund management has known the Spanish market for years and uses this experience to identify attractive projects.