Masdar and Endesa begin building 60 MW of batteries at Spanish solar farms

Three battery sites under construction

Masdar and Endesa have begun construction of three battery storage projects in Spain, the companies said on 5 November 2026. Work started in October 2026. The projects at Ardila, La Vega I and La Vega II will add 60.16 MW of power capacity and 120.34 MWh of storage to solar plants already running in Extremadura and Andalusia. The combined investment is €25.2 million, or $28.3 million, Masdar said.

Endesa said the Ardila project sits in Fregenal de la Sierra in Badajoz province, while the two La Vega systems are in Teba, Málaga province. Ardila will have 36.10 MW and 72.20 MWh across 12 containers of 6.02 MWh each, and will hybridize a 44 MWp solar farm. La Vega I and La Vega II will each have 12.03 MW and 24.07 MWh, using four containers of 6.017 MWh each. Together they provide 24.06 MW and 48.14 MWh.

The systems will use lithium iron phosphate cells and grid-forming inverters. Masdar said the design can provide synthetic inertia and respond quickly to changes in grid conditions. Endesa said these are its first lithium battery systems designed to hybridize solar farms in mainland Spain.

Public funding and costs

Endesa values Ardila at €14.3 million, including €4.6 million in public funding. The La Vega pair costs €10.9 million, including €4.4 million in public funding. That puts public money at €9 million of the €25.2 million total, about 36%.

Ardila's grant comes from the first call for innovative storage hybridized with renewable generation under Spain's Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. The La Vega grants come from the same call, which is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund for 2021-2027 and administered by IDAE, Spain's energy diversification and saving institute.

Masdar estimates construction will involve 50 jobs. Endesa expects peak workforces of 25 at Ardila and 25 across the two La Vega sites. All three are due to be operating by the end of 2027.

Why the batteries matter

Batteries store power when demand is low and release it at peak times, helping balance the intermittent output of solar farms. The three systems are add-ons to plants already in operation, not standalone storage sites. At full power, 120.34 MWh works out at about two hours of output.

Spain targets 81% renewable electricity generation by 2030, with 62 GW of wind and 76 GW of solar capacity. Its updated National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan sets a 22.5 GW storage target for the same year. The 60.16 MW now under construction is well under 1% of that storage goal.

Masdar's acting chief operating officer, Ibraheem Almansouri, said Spain is one of Europe's fastest-growing major economies. He said that growth requires secure, resilient power. "These projects will help integrate more clean power into the grid and strengthen the stability of the electricity system," he said.

The 2024 partnership

The three projects are the first storage developments under Masdar's partnership with Endesa. Masdar completed its purchase of a 49.99% stake in the company holding a 2 GW portfolio of Endesa's operating Spanish solar assets in December 2024. Endesa kept control and asset management.

The original deal, announced in July 2024, saw Masdar invest €817 million for the stake, at an enterprise value of €1.7 billion. When that transaction was announced, the two companies said they aimed to add up to 0.5 GW of battery storage to a portfolio of 48 operating solar plants. The 60.16 MW now under construction is about 12% of that 0.5 GW target.

What happens next

Construction began in October 2026 and the companies expect operation by the end of 2027. CIRCE and the Institute for Technological Research at Comillas Pontifical University will participate in research and technology validation, including on-site testing and studies of equipment performance in grid-forming mode.

The tests will study how the equipment operates in grid-forming mode, which is designed to respond rapidly to grid conditions and help maintain network stability.