Install photovoltaic parks on reservoirs and other sheets of water where possible. This is the objective of the new decree that the Government is preparing and that will allow the country’s renewable energy production to be increased, taking advantage of this type of space.
The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco) has put in public consultation the Royal Decree that regulates the installation of floating photovoltaic plants in the public hydraulic domain or in other publicly owned hydraulic infrastructures that are connected to the electricity transmission or distribution networks. In this way, one of the measures approved days ago in the National Plan to respond to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine is launched.
The floating solar installations will make it possible to increase the electricity generation capacity from renewable sources in Spain, thus accelerating the energy transition and the decarbonisation of our economy, the Government affirmed.
These plants, says the Ministry, will be beneficial to the environment: they will reduce the evaporation of water masses and the presence of algae, and they will also produce more energy due to the cooling provided by the water and the reduction of dust.
The installation of these floating solar plants on reservoirs and other elements of the public hydraulic domain will boost the capacity to generate electricity from renewable sources, something essential to accelerate the energy transition and reduce the vulnerability of our country to exceptional situations such as the one we are experiencing today.
In addition, it will facilitate the achievement of the objectives set out in the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law, which plans to achieve a 42% penetration of renewable energies in final consumption and an electricity system with 74% renewable generation by 2030.
This floating solar capacity will add to the energy produced by hydroelectric plants and will make it possible to increase the production of the facilities and optimize the evacuation infrastructures. These plants will also have higher energy efficiency than terrestrial systems thanks to the cooling effects of the water and the reduction in the presence of dust.
The objective of this Royal Decree is to determine what conditions the authorizations must include and administrative concessions for the commissioning of these photovoltaic plants, which will allow a more sustainable use of the public hydraulic domain and better protection of the state of the water bodies.
In more than a hundred reservoirs
The regulations contemplate a maximum of three plants per reservoir and partial coverage depending on the trophic status of each one: the worse the quality of its waters, the greater its coverage can be. In this sense, the maximum percentage of the total area covered will be limited to 5% if the reservoir is classified as mesotrophic, that is, if it has a moderate level of biological productivity; 15% if it is eutrophic, which has a high biological productivity, and 20% if it is hypereutrophic.
Plants will not be installed in oligrotrophic reservoirs (with low biological productivity and therefore good water quality), nor in lakes or lagoons of natural origin.
Currently, in Spain there are around a hundred state-owned reservoirs on which this type of facility could be located. The Miteco and the basin organizations will carry out an exhaustive follow-up of each one of them, being able to establish the rate of coverage in order to guarantee compliance with the environmental objectives.
temporary concessions
Floating photovoltaic solar power generation facilities in the hydraulic public domain will be granted through temporary concessions with a maximum duration of 25 years. Interested parties must have a connection permit to a point of the electricity transmission or distribution network and submit studies on the possible impact of these plates on the body of water.
In addition, the basin organizations may request technical reports from the concessionaire to assess the effects of the installation on the management of the public hydraulic domain, the safety and exploitation of infrastructures, the compatibility of the use with respect for the environment and the guarantee of flows. ecological or the environmental demands foreseen in the hydrological planning.
Monitoring and evaluation programs
The installation of this type of plant will be beneficial both for energy production and for the environment. Among other advantages, a reduction in the evaporation of water masses and a lower presence of algae blooms in fresh water are expected thanks to the shadow that these plates will provide on the liquid surface. They will also prevent land modification that occurs at onshore facilities.
Given that the concept of floating photovoltaics is still recent, follow-up programs will be established to better understand the characteristics of these installations, consider the possible impacts they may have and study the requirements that are necessary for their start-up. To this end, MITECO will prepare manuals, technical guides or recommendations to guide their implementation and will closely monitor the evolution of these plants.