Iberdrola builds 51 MW solar plant in Cuenca: hybridization with wind power

Key data

Iberdrola Renovables Castilla-La Mancha already has in hand the administrative construction authorization to build a solar plant of 51.315 MW in Campillo de Altobuey (Cuenca). The key to this project is not just the photovoltaic power: it is that it will be connected to the PE Callejas wind farm, which already operates with 49.5 MW, forming a hybrid installation with a total power of 55 MW.

The Resolution was issued on February 18, 2026 by the General Directorate of Energy Policy and Mines, and published in the BOE on April 17, 2026. In addition to the construction authorization, the resolution includes the declaration of public utility of the installation and its evacuation infrastructure, a legal instrument that facilitates and accelerates the procedures for easements and expropriation on third-party land.

What does this regulation establish?

The resolution grants two differentiated but complementary things:

• Administrative construction authorization of the photovoltaic generation module called "Callejas Hybrid Installation", with an installed power of 51.315 MW, together with its evacuation infrastructure.
• Declaration of public utility of said installation, which enables Iberdrola to initiate procedures for easements and forced expropriation on the land necessary for the evacuation infrastructure.

The central concept of this project is hybridization: instead of building a completely new photovoltaic installation with its own connection point to the grid, the new solar plant takes advantage of the already existing evacuation point of the PE Callejas wind farm. The resulting hybrid installation has a total power of 55 MW, which is the authorized limit for that shared connection point.

Economic and operational impact

Solar-wind hybridization is a strategy with concrete economic and operational advantages that this project exemplifies:

• Reduction of connection costs: Sharing the evacuation infrastructure of the existing wind farm avoids the costs of building a new connection point to the grid, which in projects of this scale can amount to tens of millions of euros.
• Greater efficiency of the evacuation point: Wind and sun have complementary generation profiles (wind generates more in winter and at night; sun, in summer and during the day), which allows more constant and efficient use of available evacuation capacity.
• Alignment with the PNIEC: This type of project contributes directly to the objectives of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan, which facilitates its administrative processing and access to regulatory support mechanisms.
• Declaration of public utility: Reduces legal uncertainty and the timeframes associated with obtaining rights over third-party land for evacuation infrastructure.

Who does it affect?

• Iberdrola Renovables Castilla-La Mancha, SAU: Direct promoter of the project. Can begin construction of the photovoltaic plant and expropriation procedures for evacuation.
• Municipality of Campillo de Altobuey (Cuenca): Territory of implementation. Affected in terms of urban planning, territorial organization and local socioeconomic impact.
• Landowners in the evacuation area: The declaration of public utility makes them subject to possible easement or forced expropriation procedures.
• Other renewable energy promoters: This project serves as a reference model for hybridization for those who have existing wind farms and want to add photovoltaic capacity by leveraging already amortized grid infrastructure.
• Electrical system operators: The incorporation of 55 MW hybrid in Cuenca has implications for grid management in Castilla-La Mancha.

Practical example

A renewable promoter that has an operational wind farm with underutilized evacuation capacity can replicate Iberdrola's strategy in this project. The model works like this:

The PE Callejas has 49.5 MW of wind installed, but the evacuation point has capacity for 55 MW of total power. Iberdrola takes advantage of that difference to add 51.315 MW photovoltaic, which in terms of maximum simultaneous evacuable power are limited to the 55 MW of the connection point.

The practical result: Iberdrola adds more than 51 MW of solar generation capacity without needing to build a new evacuation line or request a new connection point to the grid. The savings in evacuation infrastructure and administrative timeframes are significant, and the complementarity between wind generation (more intense in winter and at night) and solar (more intense in summer and during the day) improves the utilization factor of the evacuation point throughout the year.

What should companies do now?

1. If you are a renewable promoter with existing wind farms: Analyze the available evacuation capacity in your operational installations. Solar hybridization can be a way to add power without the costs and timeframes of a new connection point.
2. If you own land in Campillo de Altobuey (Cuenca): Review whether your property may be affected by the evacuation infrastructure of the Callejas Hybrid Installation. The declaration of public utility enables easement and expropriation procedures.
3. If you advise companies in the energy sector: Document this case as a model of solar-wind hybridization with declaration of public utility. It is a replicable scheme at other evacuation points with available capacity.
4. If you manage renewable assets in Castilla-La Mancha: Monitor the execution timeline of this project and its regulatory precedent value for future hybridization initiatives.