A race is on to build the world’s biggest solar power plant, near the southern end of the Iberian peninsula.

Three different projects, each with the backing of big companies, have recently been announced in Spain and Portugal, each of which will generate enough electricity to power thousands of homes. Endesa is building a 20MW plant near Cadiz for €140m; GE Energy Financial Services is working on a plant about 200km southeast of Lisbon for $75m, which is smaller at 11MW of generating capacity but may be built first; and BP has teamed with Santander Central Hispano in a €160m deal to construct up to 278 solar plants in Spain with a total capacity of between 18MW and 25MW.