The energy transition in Spanish industry is beginning to move beyond projects focused solely on installing solar panels. Grid limitations, the electrification of fleets and processes, peak demand, and the need to contain initial investments are pushing the market toward installations capable of coordinating generation, batteries, and new energy consumption.
Menapy 's plan to grow in Spain until the end of the decade is based on this evolution.
“Between now and 2030, our goal in Spain is to close projects for at least 5 MWp of new photovoltaic capacity per year, integrating BESS solutions and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, both for passenger cars and heavy transport,” anticipates Andrea Azacon, Project Manager at Menapy.
The proposal is structured around contracts of between 15 and 20 years under which Menapy can finance, build, operate and maintain the facilities .
Through this model, companies avoid concentrating their own resources in energy assets and can include within the same agreement actions that exceed the supply of equipment, such as the reinforcement of roofs, the updating of transformers or certain civil works.
One factor that defines the DNA of the company, which specializes in energy projects for industrial clients, is the clear intention to make photovoltaics the gateway to broader systems, prepared to respond to both current needs and the future transformation of the asset.
A pipeline with hybrid projects
The Spanish portfolio exemplifies this shift in scale and complexity. Among its key initiatives is the energy and mobility hub that the company is developing in partnership with Bettergy for the University of Cádiz. The project will combine 1.8 MWp of photovoltaic panels on canopies, 522 kWh of storage, and 26 charging points of 22 kW each on the Puerto Real Campus.
The facility, scheduled to become operational in 2027, will operate under a power purchase agreement (PPA) and will later be transferred to the university. Its design includes a backup output for future expansion and envisions a potential evolution towards an energy community.
Menapy is also working on an energy community in Lleida and a solution for a multinational company distributed across four locations in Catalonia and Madrid. These projects demonstrate how an initial need—such as reducing electricity costs, utilizing a parking area, installing charging stations, or increasing power capacity—can reveal additional opportunities when the asset is analyzed holistically.
“The customer doesn’t necessarily need photovoltaics, a battery or chargers; they need to reduce costs, have power to grow, electrify their mobility, decarbonize their activity or do all of this without compromising CAPEX,” summarizes Azacon.
This same logic applies to existing projects. In Burgos, Menapy financed and built a 12 MWp industrial self-consumption plant for Bekaert, which generates more than 14 GWh annually. The experience gained with companies like Refresco, Ontex, Puratos, and Vandemoortele has allowed the company to further develop designs tailored to different intensive consumption profiles.
Now another opportunity is emerging in shopping centers and large retail properties. The coexistence of multiple tenants, contracts, supply points, and demand curves necessitates a unified management approach capable of distributing and better utilizing renewable energy generation without adding operational complexity.
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Flexibility enters the economic model
The regulatory landscape is beginning to adapt to this transformation. New flexible access permits allow for connecting demand at points where firm capacity is unavailable, under technical, operational, or temporary conditions that guarantee system security. Their phased implementation may change the planning of installations that, until now, have not found sufficient space on the network.
“We believe this new development can open up new opportunities for industrial and refueling projects that are currently limited by capacity availability,” Azacon points out.
The next step will be the active participation of consumers . Spain is making progress on the operational rules for independent aggregators, entities that will be able to combine consumption, associated generation, and storage to offer services in the electricity markets.
“There is a growing opportunity to manage energy assets for industrial clients as an asset manager, especially when they combine photovoltaics, storage, charging and other flexible consumption,” the executive says.
This opens the door for an industry to gain value from the ability to shift or reduce its demand, as well as save through self-consumption.
And one thing is clear here: this new role will broaden Menapy's reach after the facilities are commissioned . The company could be responsible for optimizing their operation throughout their lifespan, while retaining the option of providing consulting services to clients who prefer to invest directly through CAPEX.
The future capacity market incorporates a third variable into the economic model. By allowing participation in generation, storage, and demand response, it could remunerate the availability of assets capable of supporting the system when needed. To capture this revenue, projects must include measurement, control, and joint operation systems from their design stage.
“The development of the capacity market can add new sources of value to these assets and improve their economic model,” says Azacon.
The need to anticipate these requirements will be especially evident in heavy transport. High charging power can limit the pace of a fleet's electrification if the grid or the customer's facilities are not ready. Analyzing operating hours, available energy, and the possibility of incorporating batteries will be just as important as selecting the chargers.
“Before sizing the solution, we analyze who will be charging, when, for how long, and what power and energy the customer will have available,” he explains.
Despite new opportunities, technological and regulatory advances do not eliminate traditional obstacles. Menapy identifies administrative procedures as the main impediment to transforming projects into operational assets.
“We continue to see room for improvement in permits and bureaucracy, which can slow down project development and make it harder for these solutions to reach the market more quickly,” Azacon concludes.