Business

Floating solar in Alqueva pumped storage reservoir receives European award

Tags
Floating solar in Alqueva pumped storage reservoir receives European award
(photo courtesy EDP)

The 5 MW Alqueva Floating Solar Farm, located in the reservoir of the Alqueva pumped storage project in Portugal, received an EUSEW 2023 award for Innovation.

European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) is an annual event dedicated to renewables and energy efficiency in Europe, organized by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency and the Directorate-General for Energy.

The Alqueva Floating Solar Farm features 12,000 solar panels float on 4 hectares, equivalent to around 0.016% of the total area of the Alqueva Reservoir. The park generates about 7.5 GWh annually, providing enough energy to power 30% of the energy usage of households in the region.

“We are seeing here a mix of several layers of innovation,” said Miguel Patena, innovation manager at project owner EDP, who describes how “the cooling effect of the water increases the efficiency of the solar panels.” In addition, the panels protect the water from solar radiation, reducing algae formation, giving fish a place to shelter from the heat, and limiting water evaporation.

EUSEW said this is a “hybrid energy project bringing together solar, hydropower and battery storage [that] uses innovative scalable technology to reduce emissions and protect nature simultaneously.” The solar park uses the same connection point to the grid as the hydropower plant, which was built 20 years ago, and uses battery storage to boost the resilience of energy supply. This hybrid approach allows projects to share infrastructure, as well as stabilizing costs and reducing environmental impact, EUSEW said.

Through a partnership with Amorim Cork Composites, a Portuguese company, and Spanish manufacturer Isigenere, a unique mix of cork composites and recycled plastic wad developed that is the basis of the floaters. Cork is a native species of the region, EDP said. Using this novel material reduced platform weight by 15% and helped cut the carbon footprint of floater production by 30%.

An additional 70 MW are planned on the Alqueva reservoir after Portugal’s first floating solar auction.