Norwegian energy company Statkraft enters a 4-year research agreement with the University of Bari Aldo Moro in Italy to study scope for agrivoltaics and sustainable approaches to further decarbonization efforts in the space.
Statkraft Italy and the Department of Agro-Environmental and Territorial Sciences (DiSAAT) will aim to deepen new approaches, methodologies and innovative technologies in the field of electricity generation and agriculture to achieve the 'correct' integration between PV systems and primary production with an eye on optimization of output for both sides.
Research activities developed through the partnership are hoped to contribute to decarbonization, diversification of energy supplies, multifunctionality of the rural sector and ecological transition 'in line with the objectives of COP26, the European Green Deal, the Fit for 55 roadmap and the REPowerEU strategy (see EU's REPowerEU To Reduce Russia Reliance Short On Solar).
The duo said these solutions will be addressed to public administrations, entrepreneurs, farmers and local communities.
One of the aims of this research partnership is to identify which crops best benefit from what kind of solar PV systems basis their harvesting techniques and also evaluate environmental impact during their entire lifecycle.
"The cultivation mechanization activities for the selected species will be defined and any modifications to the current driving and operating machines necessary for the entire cycle of field activities will be considered or alternative and innovative mechanization solutions will be investigated and studied which, by resorting to precision agriculture, achieve the objective of limiting the environmental impact of the entire agricultural-energy process with a view to sustainable management of the entire process," stated the department.
To the partnership, Statkraft brings its international experience in the construction and operation of renewable energy and storage projects, while DiSAAT will put to use its expertise in renewable energy and agricultural mechanization.
Recently, in an integrated PV workshop held by Forschungszentrum Jülich, SERIS, Southwest Petroleum University and Sun Yat-sen University, Pierre Verlinden pegged about 50 TW capacity for agrivoltaics by 2050 to contribute to bring down global emissions (see Integrated PV Critical For Global Decarbonization).
Statkraft's Jose Miguel Ferrer will speak on community commitment and sustainability of utility scale solar power plants at the Intersolar Conference on May 10 in Munich.
.png?w=50&fm=png){kind=logo}