The Port Authority of Valencia (PAV) has declared its intention to link to solar energy by the end of this year, with the goal of becoming an emission-free port by 2030.
These activities are already 85 per cent done in the case of the structure on which the panels are attached, and 15 per cent completed in the case of the installation of the panels that will deliver solar energy to the Port of València beginning this autumn.
Joan Calabuig, President of Valenciaport, has visited the works of the installation of the photovoltaic power plant located on the Principe Felipe dock.
During the visit, Calabuig stressed the importance of this project within the framework of the decarbonisation plan of PAV which envisages an emission neutral port by 2030.
Specifically, this installation will generate 2,353 megawatt hour (MWh)/year, 3 per cent of the electrical energy consumed by the Valencian docks and will start operating at the end of the year.
READ: Port of Valencia to electrify its docks
The Head of Valenciaport was accompanied by Francesc Sánchez, Director General of the València Port Authority, and Federico Torres, Director of Ecological Transition.
During the visit, Torres, together with members of his team and the site management, explained the details of the project: “The solar panels occupy a surface area of 6,420 square metres and have a 30 per cent slope to make the best use of the sun.”
The solar plant being built on the Club Náutico breakwater and on the Príncipe Felipe pier is one of two photovoltaic plants being placed in the Port of València, allowing the Valencian port to develop in green energy self-supply.
PAV has begun work on another solar park on the top of the Valencia Terminal Europa car depot. Between the two, 14 per cent of the site’s electrical energy requirements will be met.
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Valenciaport is also doing a pilot programme to install more solar panels at a third location. The European Union’s Next Generation funds and the Spanish government’s Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan are funding the first two initiatives.
Furthermore, progress on the development of another solar energy plant in Shed 4 of the Port of Gandia was addressed during the visit, which, if operational, would make this location the first European port to be energetically self-sufficient.
Other activities connected to the utilisation of renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, biomass, biogas, wave and tidal energy, and hydrogen, are in addition to the solar projects.
Similarly, the PAV’s plan to become a 100 per cent green port includes the development of other transversal plans such as the extension of railway connections, the construction of two electrical substations to connect the engines of ships docking at the Valencian precinct to the electrical network, and the use of hydrogen in port activity.
