Name of the Project
Sierra Brava floating photovoltaic (PV) plant.

Location
The project is located in the Extremadura region of Spain.

Project Owner/s
Acciona.

Project Description
The project involves the construction of Spain’s first grid-connected floating PV solar plant. It will cover 12 000 m², occupying about 0.07% of the Sierra Brava reservoir.

The new floating plant has been conceived as a pilot facility that will contribute to the analysis on the optimisation of energy production from this kind of installation.

The PV plant will study different solar module technologies and configurations in terms of inclination, placing and orientation – among other parameters – together with a variety of flotation structures.

The installation will comprise five adjacent floating systems anchored to the bottom of the Sierra Brava reservoir and linked to the shore by a jetty. Each system will have 600 PV panels with an estimated total capacity of 1.13 MWp.

Each system will be connected to three 60 kW inverters that will convert the direct current generated by the panels to alternate current. Each inverter will be connected to a small transformer centre, which will increase the low-voltage current (400 V) to medium voltage (22 kV), after which it will be sent underground along a 1.4 km power line to the grid connection point.

A small hub will be built to house operation and maintenance services, a control room and a visitor reception area.

The project will include a meteorological station that will measure parameters of interest such as solar radiation, temperature, wind speed and direction, relative humidity, air pressure and precipitation. It will be connected to the control hub by fibre optics.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Not stated.

Planned Start/End Date
Construction started in March 2020, with the installation expected to be completed by mid-2020.

Latest Developments
None stated.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Amilibia Marinas, Isigenere and Stansol (floating systems).

Contact Details for Project Information
Acciona, tel 34 91 663 06 57 or email gabinetedeprensa@acciona.es.