Innovative project in Extremadura of one of the largest energy companies in the world. Acciona will build a 3,000 solar panel photovoltaic plant on the water of the Sierra Brava reservoir, in the province of Cáceres. The project, in which it will invest 1.7 million euros, will allow one hand to commercialize the energy it produces but arises mainly for another reason. It is proposed to study «the most appropriate technical solutions to optimize the energy production of photovoltaic solar panels on the surface of lakes or reservoirs», as reflected in the project report.
Putting a floating photovoltaic on a surface of water, began to be developed in Japan and is spreading, albeit moderately, throughout the rest of the world. In Extremadura this model is already known although with a very specific purpose. The Irrigation Community of Merida has developed the largest floating photovoltaic plant in the country. It is in the term of Arroyo de San Serván (Badajoz). It has more than 1,500 solar panels on a mass of water of 6,000 square meters of the regulation raft of the Lobón channel. The power will exceed 500 kilowatts, although the intention is to double its capacity.
The producers, who had an investment of 744,695.23 euros, opted for this system to save the lack of land to locate a system of this magnitude. A regulation raft of the Lobón Canal was used, next to the Sierra de Arroyo de San Serván, to place the floating energy installation on it.
1.2 hectares of surface
What Acciona is going to do in the Sierra Brava reservoir, in the Cáceres terms of Alcollarín and Zorita, has another objective. It is a demonstration project that will study the most appropriate technical solutions of how floating photovoltaics should be made.
Various types of panel technologies and their configurations in terms of inclination, placement and orientation, among other parameters, as well as various flotation structures will be studied in this photovoltaic on the Pizarroso stream.
The reservoir is owned by the Hydrographic Confederation of Guadiana river. It was built in 1996 and has the capacity to house 223 cubic hectometers.
The floating photovoltaic will occupy an area of 1.2 hectares (12,000 square meters) of the 1,650 hectares that the Sierra Brava reservoir occupies (that is, 0.07% of the total area).
Acciona will start the works before the end of the year with the aim of completing them in six months. That is, the plant will be running predictably June next 2020.
The energy company expects the plant to be running for a period of five years. Time that will serve to experiment with the solar panels on the water and, on the other hand, will allow the energy that is produced to be sold to the electricity grid.
Source: HOY
