Utilizar toda el agua para producir energía – Uso eficiente del recurso hídrico

Spain is ready to use water as a tool to produce energy. This news aligns with the first Spanish city to generate energy using the same resource. Since time immemorial, water has been seen as an extraordinary source of life and energy, a concept that is more established than ever in the context of the energy transition. With growing concern for the environment and the constant search for renewable energy sources, water has become an important player in electricity production.

One of the most widespread options for generating energy using water is the use of floating photovoltaic installations. Floating solar panels are similar to land-based energy tools, but they add special flotation and anchoring structures to adapt to the aquatic environment. The anchoring systems are vital to maintain platform stability and must be carefully designed to accommodate variations in ground water levels and the irregularity of the water body’s bottom.

At the same time, these structures are interconnected with walkways that recreate maintenance corridors, facilitating access and operation of the installations. Floating photovoltaic solar energy is a revolutionary way to harness solar energy, using surfaces of stagnant water such as irrigation reservoirs, lagoons, lakes, dams, or swamps for the installation of photovoltaic solar energy infrastructures. Although the essence of photovoltaic technology remains latent, this variant takes advantage of areas that were previously considered unsuitable for solar production.

Spain is ready for energy mobilization: using water to achieve it

With this in mind, the Council of Ministers months ago approved a royal decree allowing the installation of floating photovoltaic plants in reservoirs of the public hydraulic domain, limiting the space occupied by these installations to between 5 and 15% of the water quality-based expansion space. In the press conference following the meeting, the Executive third vice president and minister of Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, pointed out the «growing interest in the installation of these floating plants».

Furthermore, she stated that the Government also gave its approval to another royal decree regulating new subsidies for Spanish initiatives in the hydrogen industry worth 794 million euros. The Floating Plants Royal Decree includes requirements from the State Council. The main one being the provision of a single window for processing projects with representation from water and energy authorities, in addition to autonomous communities.

For this reason, as Ribera stated, the legal regime established by the Executive foresees that it is a «simplified and common» process that will be resolved by the competent authorities in water and energy matters. The first step of the mechanism will be the applicant’s request through tenders launched by the hydrological confederations. It was also prohibited to install them in lakes, lagoons, or bodies of water. If the water bodies are not artificial or protected and the concession is limited to 25 years.

Energy mobilization: Spain approves the installation of floating solar panels in water reservoirs

The Government appreciated that in Spain there are a hundred state-owned reservoirs where floating photovoltaic plants could be located. This floating solar capacity will add to the energy generated by hydraulic plants and support the increase in production from the facilities and the optimization of the discharge infrastructure. In addition, these plants will experience higher energy performance than land systems by taking advantage of the cooling effect of water and reducing dust.

Interested parties must have authorization to connect to a point on the electricity transmission or distribution network and submit studies on the possible impact of the panels on the body of water. Since the concept of floating photovoltaics is relatively recent, monitoring programs will be necessary to more adequately analyze the characteristics of these installations, consider possible impacts, and study the requirements necessary for their operation.

With this shift in energy production using water, Spain is ready for the mobilization of the century. Meanwhile, a neighboring country plans to settle in Spanish waters and absorb all the energy.