The renewable energy facility, promoted by the company EKIENEA – formed by Iberdrola (75%), the Basque Government through the Basque Energy Agency (18%), the engineering developer KREAN of MONDRAGON Corporation (5%) and the Provincial Council of Álava (2%) through Enargi—will be located in Armiñón (Álava) and will have a nominal power of 108 megawatts (MW), 125 MW at peak production times.
The investment will amount to €90 million and will create 300 jobs at peak construction times. It will also include various projects to promote coexistence with biodiversity.
The Official Gazette of Álava (BOTHA) today published the resolution by which EKIENEA obtained, on 22 December 2025, the Prior Administrative Authorisation from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, which represents a fundamental milestone for the project and consolidates its plans to start up in 2027.
What will be the largest photovoltaic plant in the Basque Country is an initiative promoted by Iberdrola Renovables (75%) together with the Basque Energy Agency (EVE), the Basque Government's energy agency (18%), KREAN (5%), and the Provincial Council of Álava (2%) through Enargi.
EKIENEA, which will far exceed EKIAN – also located in Ribera Baja and inaugurated in 2020 with 24 MW of installed power – will be located in the municipality of Armiñón in Álava and will have a power output of 108 megawatts (MW) – 125 MW at peak production times. The project has already been approved by the corresponding Special Plan, enabling its implementation on non-developable land, and a favourable Environmental Impact Statement, obtained last May.
The total investment planned for this photovoltaic project will be €90 million.
The EKIENEA project will promote the generation of clean, local energy linked to industrial use for self-consumption, and will produce around 155 GWh/year, equivalent to the consumption of around 45,000 households, reducing CO₂ emissions by around 15,500 tonnes per year and contributing to the Basque Country's decarbonisation and industrial competitiveness objectives.
It also falls within the scope of the Energy Transition and Climate Change Act, which aims to achieve climate neutrality in the Basque Country by 2050; and the Basque Country Industry Plan 2030, which aims, within the Transformative Project ‘Development of Renewable Energies’, to promote 550 MW by 2028 in wind farms and solar photovoltaic installations.
The developers estimate that up to 300 jobs will be created during peak construction periods, as well as jobs for management and maintenance tasks, contributing to the economic development of the area.
Ekienea will cover 200 hectares, half of which will be occupied by the photovoltaic plant, and the other half by land designated for environmental compensation and forest preservation.
Coexistence with biodiversity
The largest photovoltaic plant in the Basque Country, Ekienea, will have different projects to promote coexistence with biodiversity, including a 150-metre buffer zone measured from the edge of the lagoon, reforested with gall oaks and shrubs, an ecological corridor reforested with gall oaks between the Lacorzana Lagoon and the photovoltaic plant, and a 15-hectare ecological corridor between the Lacorzana Lagoon and the banks of the Zadorra River, which will be reforested with ash and alder trees.
Three ponds will also be created in areas to be determined in the ecological corridor around the Lacorzana Lagoon, as well as shelters for herpetofauna (accumulation of stones, logs, etc.).
