Spain's first floating photovoltaic plant starts up

The Sierra Brava reservoir in Cáceres has begun generating electricity thanks to the innovative technique of floating photovoltaics

Taking advantage of reservoirs to generate electricity, even when their turbines are stopped, has been one of the greatest innovations that renewable energy has brought about in recent years. Floating photovoltaics, which takes advantage of large areas of water to install solar panels to generate energy, has marked a milestone with the first installation in history of this type of electricity generation source in Spain. It was in Extremadura – land of reservoirs -, specifically in the Sierra Brava reservoir, in Cáceres, where Acciona has launched, in just a few months, an installation that will occupy 12,000m2 of this reservoir.

The plant, which has had the technological support of other companies expert in electrical energy solutions, such as Ormazabal – which has equipped the installation with a digital step-up transformer equipped with sensors for uploading operating data – , occupies only 0.07% of the total surface area of ​​the reservoir, but has an installed solar capacity of 1.125 MWp. Thus, this reservoir, built in 1996 and fed by the waters of the Pizarroso stream, will serve as a “technological demonstrator aimed at analyzing the most suitable solutions to optimize energy production in this type of facility,” according to the company in a press release published on its website.

This pioneering installation in Spain joins the terrestrial photovoltaic innovation complex that the company Acciona has in El Romero, Chile. Thus, this will serve as a pioneering project for the Spanish company to implement future energy solutions of this type around the world.

The news of this first floating photovoltaic plant becomes the first stone of more projects that could be developed. And there are more than 1,200 reservoirs spread throughout the Spanish geography, placing the country at the top of the European Union and the fifth, in this type of hydraulic infrastructure, in the entire world, which represents a significant potential for the future development of this type of facilities, which could help achieve the objectives of climate neutrality.