Spanish energy company Acciona Energía is planning an agrivoltaic project to be deployed over the Orellana Canal in Cáceres, western Spain.
The company says the PVORELLANA project “will demonstrate a new solution and business model for photovoltaic energy generation: agrovoltaic solar channels, a sustainable technology capable of producing energy thanks to photovoltaic panels placed on water channels.”
It adds the main objective of the project is to demonstrate the economic and technical viability of the technology, which is expected to provide greater electrical performance thanks to the cooling effect of the water film located under the panels, as well as “additional benefits such as water savings, minimizing the effect of evaporation in the channels or optimizing land use.”
Proyectos Renovables Innovadores (PRI), a subsidiary of Acciona Energía, will carry out the project. It is expected to cover 2 km of the canal and feature a production capacity of up to 5,011 MW (7,857 MWh annually) of solar energy.
The company says PVORELLANA will be the first small-scale commercial demonstrator of the “Top Canal” photovoltaic technology in Europe. The project will receive €2.07 million ($2.2 million) in subsidies from the European Commission's Innovation Fund.
Acciona Energía says the support of the fund “will be essential to accelerate this phase and make it possible for the company to develop new projects that replicate and scale the PVORELLANA solution in other canals in the short to medium term.”
