Endesa X, a Spain-based electricity company, and Atalaya Mining, a UK-listed mining company, have begun building the largest self-consumption photovoltaic plant in a mining company in Spain.

The 50-megawatt facility will be located in the municipality of Minas de Riotinto and will be the first to supply clean energy to a mining operation.

The facility will cost $32.59 million (€30 million), and the companies said it would remain in service after the end of the mining exploration life, generating income for the region.

The 50 MW photovoltaic plant will have a substation that will carry out electrical transformation from 132 to 30 kilovolts and a connection line from the substation.

In total, 75,765 photovoltaic panels of 650 and 655 Wp power and state-of-the-art inverters will be installed, mounted on a metallic steel structure designed according to the characteristics of the land to make the most efficient use of the solar resource. 

There will be 60 hectares of solar field that, with its production, will cover up to a quarter of the mine's energy needs and thus also reduce its electricity bill.

All this new infrastructure will allow the annual reduction of more than 40,000 tons of indirect CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, equivalent to the consumption of 19,448 traditional combustion vehicles.

Enrique Delgado, general director of Atalaya, said: "This agreement marks the start of a project that excites us.

"Once again, we demonstrate to society that Andalusian mining is at the forefront of the industry and that Atalaya's commitment to sustainability is real."