Neither the drought, nor the farmers’ protests, nor the climate crisis manage to unblock the processing of floating solar plants in Catalonia. “These projects make all the sense in the world because, in addition to generating local and renewable electricity, they avoid water losses due to evaporation, improve water quality by reducing the proliferation of algae and do not occupy land,” says Manel Romero, one of the founding partners of the renewable energy installation company Sud Energies Renovables. Jaume Morrón, partner and director of the communication agency specialized in renewable energy projects DialEc, adds that this is a “typology of renewable energy parks highly demanded by the territory due to its location in already anthropized spaces.”
Despite all these arguments in its favor, in Catalonia there is only one solar panel project known: a 100 kW installation that supplies the biotechnology company Atens, in La Riera de Gaià (Tarragonès). The project is the work of Sud Energies, who have just had the opportunity to build another similar facility. Aigües Segarra Garrigues (ASG), the company that manages this irrigation canal, is having less luck. ASG has started the procedures to build seven floating solar parks, with a power of 20,000 MWh and an investment of 12 million euros.
“We have purchased the panels and everything is ready to begin the installation of three of them, which are the ones that currently have authorization from Endesa, but despite the commitment and will of the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda (DACC) that the processing process would be quick, that is not the case,” laments Miquel Galvarriato, executive president of ASG. “First they told us to process the permits as if they were panels on the roof and we presented the documentation in September of last year, but after reviewing it they told us that the processing had to be as if they were panels on the ground and now they are asking us for an agrological study. of the terrain, which makes no sense because the panels go over water,” explains Galvarriato.
The loser of this I want and I can’t with the floating solar panels is the farmer: “It is a key investment for the sector because once the installation is amortized, which we estimate will be in about twelve years, the savings in electricity will mean a reduction in costs. of production,” says the executive president of ASG.
“Legally there is no mechanism that allows for quick processing. Specific legislation would be needed that would involve the different departments at stake,” says Morrón. The expert explains that “the procedures are carried out via the DACC, in accordance with Decree Law 16/2019, which poses difficulties because many of the infrastructures are located in protected natural spaces.” To “get around it,” Morrón proposes that the Department of Territory be the one to take care of the procedures, in accordance with article 48 of the Urban Planning Law, which does allow the construction of renewables in infrastructure.
Beyond Catalonia, floating solar panels are conquering the waters of reservoirs, ponds and canals. “In Spain and in many other countries in the world there are many facilities in operation and of very large sizes,” says Romero. According to the Alicante manufacturer of floating solar panels Isigenere, this type of installations prevent water evaporation by up to 80% and are between 5% and 15% more energy efficient, due to the cooling effect of water. The extra cost compared to floor panels is between 20% and 30%.
