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Our technical teams have started on-site construction of the Corella photovoltaic park. This will be the largest plant that Ríos Renovables has built (for the moment 😉) in Navarre with an investment of approximately 52.7 million euros.

In fact, it is a 62 MW project that we are tackling with the same enthusiasm with which we started the first one and which represents a commitment to local employment and sustainability. In this sense, this initiative consists of two photovoltaic plants that, together, total 155,000 400 W solar panels with a single-axis horizontal tracking system and an approximate extension of 135 hectares of land.

The construction of the park will generate around 380 jobs, to which another thirty or so jobs will have to be added for the maintenance and management of the installation. Thus, once completed, it will have the capacity to generate 115,000 MWh of clean energy per year, equivalent to the consumption of 31,000 homes; or enough green energy to cover the needs of Corella, Cintruénigo and Castejón.

This means that it will save 46,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, the volume that a forest of 1.5 million trees sets annually, as well as 70 tonnes of other gases such as nitrogen oxide (NOx) or sulphur dioxide (SO2).

Our company expects to complete by the end of this summer the two new photovoltaic parks that we are building at the factories that Congelados de Navarra has in Fustiñana and Arguedas, respectively.

Therefore, thanks to these new installations, of 2.41 MWp and 4.53 MWp respectively, Congelados de Navarra will have a total installed power of 9.54 MWp. In this way, they will be able to “reach a self-consumption ratio of 20 %, a milestone that will enable them to manage the energy they need to carry out their activity as a producer of frozen vegetables and frozen products more efficiently.

At the same time, this development will enable them to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “Energy self-sufficiency will undoubtedly make us more efficient, environmentally sustainable and therefore more competitive”, said Benito Jiménez, CEO and president of the Congelados de Navarra Group.

Our company has signed an agreement to take over the energy efficiency business of a company with 35 years of experience. In this way, Ríos Renovables takes on 57 contracts with homeowners’ associations and “a small percentage” of industrial and tertiary sector projects.

In this way, we have gone from managing fifteen communities to 72 in the Aragonese capital. For this reason, we have set up new facilities in Zaragoza, located in the Zaragoza Logistics Platform (Plaza). These replace the ones we already had in the nearby town of Utebo.

Specifically, we will rent a 1,000 square metre warehouse, which will be “ready” to be used as offices and a warehouse. “At the moment, we are adapting the place, so that we hope to have them operational on 26 June”, explained our manager, David Sola.

In the first phase, this office will be staffed by three people from Ríos Renovables, an administrative assistant, an electrical engineer and three workers from the former Graus Hermanos. This team will be responsible for “offering the full range of services” of the company in Zaragoza and other locations in Aragon. In fact, it previously provided public lighting services to municipalities such as Bujaraloz, Torres de Finca and Cuarte de Huerva.

Ríos Renovables continues to grow and has recently added a new office in Valladolid to its headquarters in Fustiñana, Aragón, Madrid and Italy.

This centre confirms the significant investment made by our company since its arrival in Castilla y León in 2010. In this regard, our company has made investments worth almost 100 million euros in the region, which has made it one of the energy companies with the greatest impact on the municipalities of Castilla y León, where we have been responsible for the creation of dozens of direct and indirect jobs, many of them qualified (engineers, technicians and administrative staff).

Thus, among the most relevant recent actions we have carried out in this Autonomous Community is the promotion and construction of photovoltaic solar parks, with more than 100 MW built since 2020 in Aldeamayor de San Martín, Medina del Campo, Medina de Rioseco and Geria -all of them in Valladolid-, as well as numerous rooftop self-consumption facilities for industrial customers in the provinces of Valladolid, Burgos, León and Soria.

The construction of another two photovoltaic solar parks in Renedo de Esgueva is also planned for the coming months, with an additional investment of close to 30 million euros, which will bring in revenue for the municipal coffers of around 5 million euros over the life of the project.

The opening of the Valladolid branch office, therefore, reaffirms our commitment and determination to promote development as well as wealth and employment in Castilla y León.

Our deputy director, Lidia Ríos Enrique, represented Ríos Renovables at the Miguel Indurain Foundation gala.

Thank you for receiving us, we were delighted to be part of the event.

The Miguel Indurain Foundation is a non-profit foundation created in 2017 whose purposes are as follows:

• To promote, develop and improve the practice of sport and physical exercise in Navarre, with special attention to High Performance Sport.
• To improve the preparation of sportsmen and sportswomen in Navarre.
• To accompany sportsmen and sportswomen at the time of their retirement and their incorporation into the social and labour market, placing value on the asset they represent for Navarre.
• To promote and develop research, assistance and training programmes in the field of sport.
• To organise and promote the organisation of sporting events and acts that contribute to the development of sport and physical exercise in Navarre.

Two of the photovoltaic plants that Ríos Renovables Group operates in Cortes and Valladolid will soon see their energy generation process improved thanks to an innovative hybridisation system with batteries. Specifically, the application of this technology, which will require the company to invest approximately 7 million euros, will make it possible to store the energy produced during peak generation times and supply it when demand is high and production is low.

The project was presented during a visit by the President of Navarre, María Chivite, to the company’s headquarters in Fustiñana. The two photovoltaic solar plants total approximately 20 MW, and the new initiative includes the installation of batteries with a storage capacity of 15 MWh.

“This will make it possible to consume renewable energy even at times with little or no solar radiation, thanks to the fact that the energy produced by the solar plants during off-peak hours will be stored and injected into the grid during peak hours, when renewable energy is not available and the energy cost is higher”, said our president Adalberto Ríos.

Ríos also confirmed that “the initiative will contribute to lowering energy prices, reducing dependence on fossil fuels and improving the resilience of the electricity grid“. And he valued the importance that developments of this type can have for the energy transition and “to make the most of renewable energy sources”.

In this sense, he pointed out as another relevant benefit the fact that “it can help to improve the stability and quality of the electricity grid by providing backup power and reducing the need to build new infrastructures to meet moments of high demand”. For her part, Chivite valued the “significant improvement” that this project represents for the penetration of renewable energies.

SELF-CONSUMPTION AND NEW ENERGIES

Adalberto Ríos, on the other hand, shared with the president other current business lines, apart from the aforementioned project. For example, he recalled the more than 100 megawatts (MW) that the company develops annually in the area of promotion and commissioning of solar photovoltaic plants.

He also highlighted the growth that Ríos Renovables Group has experienced in self-consumption, where it has achieved an increase of “more than 200%” in installations: “A trend that we are maintaining this year”.

At the same time, he highlighted the company’s commitment to other non-polluting and sustainable energy sources such as thermal or biomass. Finally, he explained the work that the company is carrying out in the area of energy efficiency. “Here we offer an energy consultancy service for the Administration, which includes carrying out studies and proposals for improvement with which we aim to optimise savings and efficiency in public lighting”, he indicated.

GROWTH OF RENEWABLE RIVERS

The good results achieved in the main lines of business and its diversification strategy have boosted the organisation’s growth in recent years. It currently has offices in Fustiñana, Valladolid, Madrid, Extremadura, Zaragoza and Turin (Italy) and is planning its international expansion, focusing on markets such as Chile and the United Kingdom.

Specifically, the workforce has increased by 110 people in the last year and a half, which means that it now has 250 employees. In addition, the company closed 2022 with a turnover of 95 million euros. According to the Government of Navarre, Chivite thanked Ríos Renovables Group for its contribution “to the economic and social structure” of the region, “to innovation and internationalisation”.