Spain Gets Country’s ‘First’ Floating Solar Plant

Spain’s Extremadura region just got its ‘first’ grid connected floating solar PV plant. Local energy company Acciona has brought the system online on the Sierra Brava Reservoir. Equipped with 3,000 solar PV modules of different types, including bifacial, the project is meant to be a demonstration project which will enable the study of a range of technical solutions for further installations of solar panels on lakes or water reservoirs.

The Sierra Brava Floating PV Plant uses up 12,000 m2 or 0.07% of the total surface area of the water reservoir with 600 MW panels deployed across 5 floating structures each with different layouts, orientation and inclination. Cooperating with Acciona on this project are Amilibia Marinas, Isignere and Stansol that have all provided the 5 adjacent floating systems anchored to the bottom of the artificial reservoir and linked to the shore by a jetty.

Observing the results of this installation in a real environment will enable the team to figure out the installation and maintenance costs of different solutions.

Solar panel installation for the project began in March 2020 with completion targeted for mid 2020 when it stated that the capacity of the project will be 1.125 MW (see Acciona Begins Work On Spanish Floating Solar PV Project).

“Floating photovoltaic is clearly compatible with conventional large-scale hydropower. Making use of the surface of reservoirs to generate additional energy is a clear optimization of resources, both in terms of making good use of space and using existing connections to the power grid as well as stabilizing production based on alternative generation sources,” Acciona gave as the reason for it to explore floating solar technology. “The Spanish network of reservoirs is clearly a potential direct market for this technology.”