Álava initiates the special plan for the Ekian Berri solar plant in Arratzua

The Provincial Council of Álava has initiated the preliminary process for the approval procedure of the special plan for the Ekian Berri solar photovoltaic plant, which will be located on non-urbanizable land in the municipalities of Arratzua-Ubarrundia and Vitoria-Gasteiz. This is established by Provincial Order 411/2026, of September 2, published in the Official Gazette of the Historical Territory of Álava (BOTHA) number 103, of September 9, 2026, which grants the affected city councils a period of two months to reach an agreement on who will assume the processing.

The resolution, signed by the Deputy for Territorial Balance and Land Use Planning, Laura Pérez Borinaga, responds to the request submitted on August 7, 2026, by Ekian Berri, AIE for the Provincial Council to carry out the relevant consultations with the involved city councils.

A project on the former Noryeste reservoir

The plant will be developed within the area of the reservoir known as Noryeste, a hydraulic irrigation infrastructure built to supply the Noryeste Irrigation Community. The project, promoted by the Provincial Council, ended in 2004 due to serious leakage problems that prevented it from being filled; therefore, the land today constitutes heavily anthropized soil that does not fulfill the function for which it was conceived.

It consists of an area of approximately 41 hectares with good solar resources, which could be suitable for the development of photovoltaic installations. The project is driven by:

• Krean, a company integrated into the Mondragon corporation.
• The Basque Energy Agency (EVE).
• The Provincial Council of Álava.

Technical characteristics of the installation

The Ekian Berri plant aims to generate clean energy for companies and public administrations in the surrounding area, with a nominal power of 26.565 MW, which will produce around 35,300.16 MWh annually. The model provides that each company will own a portion of the electricity production obtained, thus linking production with its energy consumption.

The promoter is processing the sectoral authorization of the installation before the Territorial Delegation of Industrial Administration of Álava, in accordance with Decree 48/2020, of March 31, which regulates the administrative authorization procedures for electrical installations in the Basque Country.

Legal framework of the special plan

The processing of the special plan is based on Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of October 30 (recast text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Law), Law 2/2006, of June 30, on Land and Urban Planning of the Basque Country, and Decree 105/2008, of June 3, on urgent measures for its development. Since it affects an area exceeding 5,000 square meters and requires an environmental impact statement, the drafting and approval of a special plan is mandatory.

Given that the scope affects two municipalities, the Provincial Council analogously applies Article 92 of Law 2/2006, regarding compatibility plans, which provides for provincial intervention when the city councils fail to reach an agreement. Therefore, the order grants two months to the city councils of Arratzua-Ubarrundia and Vitoria-Gasteiz for one of them to assume the processing and approval of the plan; in the absence of an agreement, the competence will fall to the Provincial Council.

The resolution will be notified to Ekian Berri, AIE and both city councils, and since it is a non-qualified procedural act, no appeal is possible.

Relevance for the territory

The initiative represents a significant step for the energy transition of Álava, by utilizing already degraded land to install a photovoltaic plant that will supply clean energy to local companies and administrations. The unblocking of the procedure, with fixed deadlines for the city councils, brings the materialization closer of a project that combines the recovery of an underutilized space with the promotion of collective self-consumption in the historical territory.

Source: Official Gazette of the Historical Territory of Álava (BOTHA), no. 103, September 9, 2026, section I (Provincial Council of Álava), p. 1-4 (official reference: 2026-02554).