In the coming months, Bilbao Exhibition Centre will be expanding its solar photovoltaic plant, which will reach a capacity of one megawatt. The structure will enable self-sufficiency of between 10 and 12% and comes on top of the one that was installed in 2004, one of the largest solar energy parks in the Basque Country, which will continue to feed the electricity obtained into the grid. This was presented this afternoon at a press conference by Arantxa Tapia, the Basque Government’s Minister for Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment; Iñigo Ansola, the Director General of the Basque Energy Agency, and Xabier Basañez, the Director General of Bilbao Exhibition Centre.

This expansion will involve an investment of 650,000 euros, which will be made using BEC Solar’s own funds; BEC Solar is a limited company in which EVE-Vasco de Energía and Bilbao Exhibition Centre hold shares. Photovoltaic generators, devices that provide clean, renewable electricity, have been installed on structures with a 10º slop on the roof of hall 6. A total of 1,850 solar panels of 550 kW will be installed, to generate electricity with an output of 900 kW for self-consumption without a surplus. The project will be operational in March 2023.

The solar panels were recently delivered to BEC by the company that was awarded the project, ORGAUS SYSTEMS. The next milestones will be reached in late October, when the structural materials will be delivered and, a few days later, the roof’s structural materials will be raised. Once all these elements have been collected, assembly of the installation will begin, which will take around three months.

The sun’s energy offers a very attractive alternative power supply for electricity production at a location such as BEC’s due to the size of the site. This action is part of BEC’s commitment to sustainability and the SDG 2030 agenda. Indeed, one of BEC’s main objectives to manage its space, and the events held there, sustainably, with energy as the main focus.

Thus, BEC has begun its journey alongside IHOBE, the Basque Government’s Public Environmental Management Company, with its own events being awarded the Erronka Garbia seal, a procedure that minimises the negative impacts on the environment associated with holding events and creates a positive legacy for the organising bodies and the agents involved. Expovacaciones and Egurtek have already been awarded this certificate.

 One of the State’s largest                                         

BEC has operated a solar plant since 2004, the year the site was commissioned, after the foundation of the company BEC Solar. The solar photovoltaic system is connected to the grid and has an installed capacity of 99.8 kWp. The energy produced by the photovoltaic installation is sold to the electricity grid, and the coincidence between the point of generation and the point of consumption prevents losses in transporting the energy. For all these reasons, it is a source of power that has an impact on environmental improvement and economic savings for BEC’s customers and users.

This plant, then one of the largest in the State, has been one of the renewable energy systems with the greatest potential for exploitation. The facilities are integrated between the roofs of halls 5 and 6, and occupy a surface area of approximately 1,000 square metres. The generator system consists of 628 solar modules, with a total installed solar capacity of 99.852 kWp. The solar panels are supported on metal gantry-type structures, located on the concrete beams of the roofs.

Energy Transition and Climate Change Plan 2021-2024

Given the challenge of the energy-climate transition and in a scenario of energy emergency, the Basque Government has drafted the Energy Transition and Climate Change Plan 2021-2024, which aims to reduce emissions, enhance renewable energies and adapt the territory to the impacts of climate change. Specifically, the Plan seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30%; to achieve a 20% share of renewable energy in final energy consumption by 2024. This project is therefore part of the effort being made by institutions to supply the Basque Country with zero-kilometre clean energies.

BEC Solar is one of the main renewable electricity generation projects included in the Energy Contingency Plan drafted by the Basque Government, which is expected begin operating soon and whose sponsors include the Basque Energy Agency.