Endesa starts building 120 MWh of grid-forming BESS in Spain

Contents

Part of the Masdar partnership
Ardila: 36.10 MW / 72.20 MWh
La Vega I and II: two systems in Teba

Spanish utility Endesa has started construction of its first lithium battery projects to hybridise solar plants on the Iberian Peninsula. According to the company’s announcement of 4 November 2026, the three systems at Ardila in Badajoz and La Vega I and La Vega II in Málaga will total 60.16 MW of power and 120.34 MWh of energy capacity, with a combined investment of EUR 25.2 million.

Part of the Masdar partnership

The projects are being developed under Endesa’s partnership with Masdar, which in 2024 acquired a 49 percent stake in a perimeter of Endesa’s photovoltaic assets; the alliance foresees hybridising these plants with storage. All three projects were selected in the first call for aid for innovative energy storage projects hybridised with renewable generation facilities.

The systems will combine lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries with grid-forming inverters. Endesa says the technology emulates the behaviour of a conventional thermal or hydro generator by providing synthetic inertia, responding almost instantly to sudden changes in grid conditions and contributing to system stability.

Ardila: 36.10 MW / 72.20 MWh

Developed through the project company Furatena Solar 1, Ardila will hybridise the 44 MWp photovoltaic plant that Endesa operates in Fregenal de la Sierra (Badajoz). The system will have 36.10 MW and 72.20 MWh, in 12 battery containers of 6.02 MWh each, storing the equivalent of the daily electricity consumption of around 8,100 Spanish households, according to the company. Construction will run through the first quarter of 2027, with commissioning and synchronisation planned for the end of that year. Of the EUR 14.3 million investment, EUR 4.6 million comes from public funding under the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. The Institute for Research in Technology at Universidad Pontificia Comillas will study and validate the system’s grid-forming operation.

La Vega I and II: two systems in Teba

La Vega I and La Vega II, carried out with the project companies Enel Green Power España Solar 1 and Baylio Solar, will hybridise the two photovoltaic plants Endesa operates in Teba (Málaga). Each will have 12.03 MW and around 24 MWh, with four 6.017 MWh battery containers and four inverters; together their capacity equals the daily consumption of around 5,400 households. Works began in October 2026 and both systems are due to be operational at the end of 2027. Of the joint EUR 10.9 million investment, EUR 4.4 million is public funding from the call co-financed with FEDER 2021-2027 funds and managed by IDAE. CIRCE and the Comillas institute will take part in research and technology validation.

Endesa says construction will employ a peak of 25 workers at Ardila and 25 across the two La Vega projects, and that the projects include a commitment to use European-origin components or services, including inverters, auxiliary systems, communications and integration.