Four photovoltaic plants, owned by The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) and operated by Statkraft in Cádiz, receive the UNEF Seal of Excellence in Sustainability

The Malabrigo, Arenosas, La Guita and El Yarte photovoltaic plants, owned by TRIG and developed, built and operated by Statkraft in the province of Cádiz, become the forty-first project to obtain the UNEF Seal of Excellence for Sustainability which recognizes ground-based solar energy plants carried out with the highest criteria of social and environmental integration, and circular economy.

This renewable cluster becomes the second project developed by Statkraft to achieve this certification, for which an independent audit has been carried out, carried out by the company CERE (UL Solutions), in which socioeconomic and preservation parameters have been assessed. and restoration of biodiversity and circular economy.

The UNEF Seal of Excellence in Sustainability was created in 2020 to disseminate good practices in the Spanish photovoltaic sector, reinforcing the commitment of the national photovoltaic sector to a sustainable energy transition. UNEF has become the first entity that has designed its own system worldwide for the certification of the sustainability of photovoltaic installations, aimed at all companies that may be interested in obtaining it, whether they are developers, construction companies, owners or any other in the segment of ground-based solar plants.

“We have always demanded that we do things well as a sector, since we believe that our future cannot be understood without coexistence and the creation of added value between the population, the territory and its biodiversity and the projects,” stressed José Donoso, director general of the Spanish Photovoltaic Union.

“These projects demonstrate that there is no source of energy generation more integrated with the territory, biodiversity and citizenship than solar energy. We are convinced that, thanks to the existence of this pioneering certification, what seems like the exception, will become the norm within the national photovoltaic sector. In the coming years we trust that all ground-based solar energy projects will have and see their excellent standards of social and environmental integration recognized,” added Donoso.

About the projects:

For the implementation of the Malabrigo, Arenosas, La Guita and El Yarte projects, developed by Statkraft in the province of Cádiz, which already generate annual savings of around 124,000 tons of C02 eq due to their nature of replacing fossil fuels, 47 local companies and 450 jobs were created, 208 were local (176 employees from San José del Valle and 32 from Jerez de la Frontera). Likewise, 13 local people have been hired during the operation and maintenance phase.

In addition, the plants, which supply clean energy equivalent to more than 130,000 homes each year, have numerous environmental measures: large tree species have been maintained within the perimeter fence, mainly holm oaks; Outdoor screens of 1,581 specimens of wild olive and broom, and other specimens of Pistacia lentiscus and Rosmarinus offinalis, have been installed, with tutors and protectors, in addition to including 20 periodic irrigations to ensure success.

Additionally, the projects have stands of naturalized vegetation of herbaceous species where fauna can be housed for breeding processes. Those areas that were affected by the construction work have also been recovered and a vegetation island has been installed with the small specimens affected during the construction work in La Guita.