The Port of Valencia (PAV) has announced that its solar power-producing facilities have been operating at full capacity during the summer months.
From its inception at the beginning of the year until July, the solar power facilities were reportedly able to limit the release of 106.78 tonnes of CO2 into the environment while also producing more than was originally projected.
Valenciaport presently operates two solar plants (one at the Port of Valencia and one in the Port of Gandia), with a third installation set to begin operations in Valencia by the end of the year.
The three facilities are part of PAV’s decarbonisation strategy, which aims to reach zero emissions in the next years.
The number of sunlight hours recorded in the province of Valencia from May to July surpassed the typical average, allowing for greater photovoltaic energy generation than anticipated.
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The solar panels at the Príncipe Felipe Dock produced 1,446.88 megawatt-hours (MWh) in July, 121 per cent more than expected.
The Príncipe Felipe Dock installation, built on the breakwater between the COSCO terminal and the Yacht Club, comprises 2,990 panels of 460 watt-peak (Wp), with a total installed power of 1,375.4 Wp and a production capacity of 2,296 MWh/year.
This infrastructure was linked to the grid for testing in December and has been fully operational since January 2024.
This photovoltaic project will soon be joined by another solar park on the roof of the Valencia Terminal Europa (VTE) car silo/warehouse, with 90 per cent of the work already complete.
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Together, they will generate one-fifth of the electrical energy needed by the Valencian port.
The second plant’s construction phase is expected to be completed in October of next year, with work on test energy generation beginning in the fourth quarter of 2024.
In July, PAV handled 461,121 TEU, a 5.64 per cent increase over the same month last year.
