Badajoz submits a 40 MW battery next to Los Frailes for public review

The Industry and Energy Area of the Government Delegation in Extremadura has opened for public consultation the prior administrative and construction authorization for the “BESS Los Frailes” battery module, with an installed capacity of 40 MW, intended for the hybridization of the Los Frailes photovoltaic plant, in the municipality of Badajoz. The announcement, under file number PFOT-ALM-156, is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Badajoz number 210, corresponding to Tuesday, November 3, 2026 (Announcement 4284/2026). Interested parties have 15 business days from the day following publication to submit allegations to the substantive body.

The framework: a state-competence installation

The application was submitted by Ralos Investment Fotovoltaico Sur, SL to the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, registered on July 18, 2025. The file is processed in accordance with Law 24/2013, of December 26, on the Electricity Sector, and Royal Decree 1955/2000, of December 1, as well as the third transitional provision of Royal Decree-Law 23/2020, of June 23.

The competent body to resolve is the General Directorate of Energy Policy and Mines of the aforementioned ministry, while the processing of the file corresponds to the Industry and Energy Area of the Government Delegation in Extremadura, where allegations must be addressed. The General Directorate of Energy Policy and Mines has determined that the project falls under the cases of exemption from the simplified environmental impact assessment procedure provided for in Royal Decree 997/2025, of November 5, and is therefore processed according to article 6 of that regulation.

Allegations may be submitted through the Common Electronic Registry of the General State Administration, using the code for the Industry and Energy Area (EA0040560), or in person at the Government Sub-delegation in Badajoz, Avenida de Europa number 1, fifth floor, Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 14:00 hours and by prior appointment.

Figures and technical characteristics of the project

The project contemplates an installed battery capacity of 40 MW and a useful storage capacity of 160 MWh in a four-hour system. The batteries will be located within the existing fenced perimeter of the photovoltaic plant, in three enclosures totaling 9,593.33 square meters.

• Installed battery capacity: 40 MW (160 MWh, 4-hour system).
• Combined capacity after hybridization: 87.4375 MW.
• Maximum power evacuated at the connection point: 40.25 MW.
• Power of the Los Frailes 66/30 kV substation transformer: 50 MW.
• Material execution budget: 20,004,479.74 euros.
• Equipment: 5 power stations, 10 inverters of 4,000 kVA, and 30 battery containers of 5,365 kWh each.
• Promoter’s address for notification purposes: Príncipe de Vergara Street, 108, 6th floor, 28002 Madrid.

The energy will be evacuated via two 30 kV medium-voltage underground lines to the “CS Hibridación / CT SSAA” sectioning center, which will act as the hybridization point, and from there via three 30 kV lines to the “Los Frailes 66/30 kV” substation and, subsequently, to the high-voltage network at the STR Vaguadas substation, owned by E-Distribución. On February 25, 2025, Distribución Redes Digitales, SLU granted the update of the access and connection permit to the distribution network at that substation.

An operational plant changing its evacuation

The Los Frailes photovoltaic plant, with an installed capacity of 47.4375 MW, is currently in the operational phase and is not part of the scope of this project, which also does not include the evacuation infrastructure beyond the sectioning center. Hybridization will, however, require adapting the plant’s evacuation, which currently feeds directly into the Los Frailes 66/30 kV substation.

The new sectioning center will integrate the lines coming from both the photovoltaic plant and the battery system, so that the generated and stored energy will be evacuated jointly through already deployed infrastructure, optimizing the use of existing connections. The announcement is signed by the director of the Industry and Energy Area, Antonio Jesús Sánchez Conejero.

The processing opens a formal channel for citizen participation regarding a project that strengthens energy storage in the province of Badajoz and which, with 160 MWh of capacity, will allow solar energy to be shifted toward demand peaks when the availability of the photovoltaic resource decreases. The file thus adds to the electrical infrastructure planning that conditions industrial development and the management of the distribution network in the region.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Badajoz, no. 210, November 3, 2026, State Administration, pp. 2-4 (official reference: Announcement 4284/2026, exp. PFOT-ALM-156).