- The two companies will collaborate in the definition and implementation of a formula that allows the coexistence of the future parks of Itsaraz and Piaspe with industries, local public entities, and citizens, focusing on the development of benefits for the society in which it is implemented.
- KREAN, part of Mondragon Corporación, will carry out the process of industrial and citizen socialization of these two renewable facilities, establishing a model that seeks to give environmental and social meaning to renewable projects in Euskadi and make Basque society feel it as their own.
- For the socialization of citizens, the agreement considers the creation of a network of local energy communities, adapting its development and implementation to the social processes promoted around the two projects.
Statkraft, the first renewable producer in Europe, and KREAN, the engineering and promoter of Mondragon Corporation, which seeks to create a positive impact on people, have signed several agreements with the aim that Basque citizens, industry, companies, and public administrations in both wind projects developed by Statkraft in Euskadi: Itsaraz, on the border between Araba, Bizkaia, and Gipuzkoa, and Piaspe, in Gipuzkoa.
Under these agreements, the two companies will jointly promote Itsaraz and Piaspe, working together to define a legal and economic structure that allows the combination of wind farms with industries, local public entities, and citizens.
With the entry of KREAN into the projects, the two parties propose a new solution for the transfer of energy in Euskadi, which aims to be a reference for the process of socializing energy in BAC.
Statkraft and Kren propose a new model in line with the values ​​that guide the development of their renewable projects in the rest of Europe, which act responsibly and have dialogue at the center of their projects. With Itsaraz and Piaspe as the protagonists of this new approach, the projects will be structured around three axes: energy socialization through the participation of citizens, kilometer-zero electricity supply for the Basque industry, and public-private collaboration.
The two companies will support the projects with their knowledge and capabilities, enable society to play a leading role in them, and ensure the proper development, construction, and operation of the infrastructure.
Therefore, Basque society has a starring role as the future owner and consumer of the Itsaraz and Piaspe wind farms.
KREAN will develop and implement the socialization process of the parks, defining possible participation models for the Basque industry, proposing their entry into the projects, and ensuring that the defined formulas respond to their interests as major electricity consumers.
Regarding the socialization of citizens, KREAN will also lead this process by promoting wind local energy communities (CEL). From its cooperative experience, with models of social integration and responding to the development and organizational design proposed in each territory, the vocation is to place different CELs around the two projects. Both parties planned an ambitious deployment strategy and committed to adapting it to local sensitivities by giving it prominence and contributing their knowledge, experience, and resources.
Thus begins a new phase for wind projects in Euskadi. With the initiative of Statkraft and KREAN, the projects seek dialogue and social integration so that the effects are sufficient, ownership is shared, and consumption is local.
Itsaraz and Piaspe: clean and indigenous energy for 68,000 families
Statkraft and Kren are developing the Itsaraz and Piaspe wind farms in the Basque Country in the processing phase.
In particular, Itsaraz will be located on the border between Araba, Bizkaia, and Gipuzkoa, between the towns of Aramaio and Eskoriatza, and will have a capacity of 60.4 megawatts (MW) of power. Piaspe, in Gipuzkoa, between the towns of Azpeitia, Erretzil, and Zestoa, has a capacity of 33 MW.
The start of these two facilities will involve an estimated combined investment of more than 90 million euros, and they will start producing clean, cheap, and indigenous energy for the territory in 2027. Together, their production will provide an average annual consumption of around 68,000 houses.
About KREAN / Mondragon Corporacion
KREAN is a cooperative group integrated by Mondragon Corporation that operates in five areas of activity (architecture, industry, city and territory, construction, and promotion) and proposes comprehensive solutions for the main future challenges that come to society. Within the scope of the European Strategy for Energy Change and the Basque Energy Transition, KREAN is currently leading the promotion of citizen energy communities in the Basque Country, based on the empowerment of citizens in the generation and management of renewable energy for consumption. The group is made up of more than 300 people who network with technologists, research centers, schools, and universities.
