Season 5 Episode 2: Chasing the Sun

[Seville, Spain]

María Álvarez: The south of Spain has something truly special. With the olive trees, the sound of birds, the stunning landscape, all with this powerful sunshine. I grew up in a small town in the south of Spain. Spending time outdoors was part of my life. The sun, people, the culture. It is healthy and it is life. Spain has very ambitious climate goals. And as we progress, it's important that we continue to produce energy while being mindful of limiting the impact on the environment and local landscape that I love so much. Spain is a leading country in solar energy production, in Europe. We have over 3,000 hours of sunshine a year. Our government's goal is to achieve 81% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. The Guillena cluster, the five solar projects located in Guillena, are collectively the biggest TotalEnergies solar site in Europe. Part of my work is to secure the necessary permits for the project. We use bifacial tracking solar panel technology.

Jorge Robledo: Now we are fully operational. So we have around 395,000 panels in a tracking system, which is more efficient than the static ones because the panels are following the sun.

María Álvarez: As part of my job, I secure land plots and I was mindful of knowing each landowner in order to ensure that we were trying to cover their needs. That's like dealing with your extended family. We have a team of environmental engineers who have worked on-site from the very beginning. They work with local scientific institutions to ensure that the solar plant has minimal impact on the surrounding nature.

Deborah Herrera: This area of 1,000 square meters is protected so it can serve as a kind of island for the biodiversity that surrounds the plant. These are Palmito, a local protected species. We are going to create here several water points and also we encourage steppe birds who are vital for the Iberian biodiversity.

María Álvarez: We are giving access to more people to lower carbon energy and at the same time, we are respecting the balance of biodiversity. The energy will go directly into the grid and we sell energy solutions locally to businesses and consumers. During the construction, we involved many local people. We have created around 800 work positions. 125 of them were local. We have a real sense of community, yeah. This work is more than a job. Andalusia is about connection, sharing and passion. This project is part of that spirit. And it’s only by working together and valuing our natural resources that we can truly move to a more sustainable future.