We try to be able to meet part of the electricity consumption with solar panels so that we farmers in the irrigation community have cheaper and more stable electricity prices, but we compete with investment funds that want to install large solar farms on the best land of cultivation”, laments Víctor Sas Lamora, technician of the Garrigues Sud Irrigation Community and owner of 10 hectares of super-intensive olive trees. In the same vein, Ramon Miret Calzada, technician of the Segrià Sud Irrigation Community and owner of 7 hectares of olive and almond trees, warns that “without water to irrigate, all this will become a desert and we need cheap energy to be able pump the irrigation water, otherwise our crops are not economically viable”.
The irrigated communities Garrigues Sud and Segrià Sud are part of 33% of irrigated crops in Catalonia, which are mostly concentrated (76%) in the province of Lleida. This 33% of land contributes 70% of Catalan agricultural production, a figure that is increasing both due to the growth of the irrigated surface and the fall in the production of dry land, seriously damaged by the drought.
However, irrigation has costs and, in the case of these two communities, they are particularly high because they have to pump water from 40 meters above sea level to 780 meters. In Les Garrigues Sud, the average elevation is around 330 metres, while in Segrià Sud it is around 500 metres; it is the irrigation community that has the highest energy consumption for pumping in Catalonia, according to its technician.
“The only way we have to be economically viable is to invest in energy efficiency and renewables. With current electricity prices, we don’t even consider pumping water when the price is higher; we only pump when the rate is the most economical”, points out Miret. In the two communities, it is “an accompanying irrigation, for when rainwater is not enough, and the only viable crops are shrubs because they have a greater profit margin than cereals ”, explains the technician from the Garrigues Sud community.
Sas estimates that 20% of the production costs of its olive groves are due to electricity for pumping irrigation water. In the community of Segrià Sud there are 424 KW in operation with solar panels and the community has a plan to gradually install up to 18 mW on 25 hectares of land, with an investment of between 18 and 20 million euros. This power would allow the community to cover between 60% and 70% of electricity consumption.
The community of Segrià Sud is just locating the 25 hectares of land where the solar panels can be located. “They must be close to pumping stations to avoid electricity losses. For this reason, we are acquiring abandoned land, unproductive or with other problems because there is space for everything, without the need to sacrifice the best farmland”, says the technician.
Segrià Sud covers 5% of its electricity with self-consumption, thanks to one hectare of solar panels installed in 2019. The community is awaiting the start-up of another 1.5 hectares and they have planned the construction of 2, 5 hectares in the medium term. All these investments have specific aid for irrigating communities.
Both communities use highly efficient localized irrigation, known colloquially as drip irrigation. Víctor Sas specifies that Garrigues Sud has an efficiency of 93%. In other words, only 7% of the water is lost, losses due to evaporation, leaks and filter cleaning. “There are many irrigation communities that are still not doing things well, but if they are not doing it, it is because they cannot do it alone, because they need help to modernize. If we want local agriculture, we need to help them financially because in the drylands there is only misery; we wouldn’t be able to feed Catalonia without irrigation”, says this 34-year-old farmer.
The two farmers lament how large renewable energy projects add pressure to investments in irrigation and agriculture. “They hinder the incorporation of new farmers or the growth of existing farms because they put pressure on the purchase of land. In addition, when there is a leak in one of the pipelines located under the land with solar parks, who will dare to handle water with electricity so close”, warns Ramon Miret.
Sas prefers to see it as an opportunity that the territory cannot let slip. “The key is in the hands of those responsible for the generation of energy. We must prevent it from happening like with the wind turbines, which are here, occupying land, but without contributing economic activity to the territory as agriculture does. If we use it well, the generation of solar energy is a brutal opportunity for the territory. If not, it can be his death sentence.”
ENERGY COSTS
THE WINTER OF DISCONTENT
