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The project aims to promote organic farming and generate employment and business in the medium term around the sector.
VITORIA, 19 (EUROPA PRESS)
Iberdrola will build a new agrivoltaic plant in Álava to boost apple cultivation for the production of high-quality cider and the production of renewable electricity in the Basque Country.
According to the Basque electricity company, the project will be developed on land donated by the City Council of Vitoria-Gasteiz, as part of the municipal program "Vitoria-Gasteiz: Laboratory City."
Among other objectives, in the area of sustainable production, the project seeks to promote organic farming, "generating employment and business in the medium term around the production and distribution of organic agricultural products from Alava."
The company operating the apple orchard will be Sidrería Kuartango, a "leader in the research and development of agricultural initiatives in Álava," which aims to boost local apple production.
The 901-kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic panel installation is a hybrid R&D project with batteries and was the only agrovoltaic project selected in the Basque Country in the First Call for Proposals for investment aid programs for innovative renewable energy and storage projects.
The positioning software was developed by the Basque company Powerful Tree and is designed to use artificial intelligence to determine the optimal position of the solar panels at all times.
Placed on a porticoed structure 4.1 meters above the apple trees, they simultaneously provide clean energy, generate shade, reduce radiation and heat stress, protect the trees from adverse weather conditions influenced by climate change, improve soil and crop quality, and reduce water use, among other benefits.
The main porticoed structure features a "novel design" of high-strength steel tension cables, allowing for the unhindered passage of agricultural vehicles and reducing the plant's maintenance costs.
To this end, the 700-watt (W) photovoltaic modules are equipped with trackers and are bifacial, allowing the panels to be oriented, in this case for optimal plantation performance, and produce solar energy from both sides.
The facility also features three inverters with a total output of 750 kWn, and a storage system with two modules with a power of 240 kWn and a storage capacity of two hours.
The project is part of the Basaldea Agroecological Business Center, a municipal project aligned with the European Green Deal's "From Farm to Fork" strategy and the Vitoria-Gasteiz agri-food strategy.
The agricultural business incubator is an agro-incubator for the development of new organic farming operations geared toward entrepreneurs, providing them with shared land, equipment, and infrastructure. It also promotes vocational training for young people in the field of organic farming, while also serving as a direct sales point for its crops.
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
For Iberdrola, agrivoltaics "not only contributes to energy and food sustainability," but "can be a strategic tool for rural development" since it allows for dual land use, "which generates a complementary economy and diversifies farmers' income, making farming viable in many cases in a context of unstable prices and increasing climate vulnerability."
Furthermore, this solar production system "favors the creation of local, skilled jobs in areas at risk of depopulation and promotes the emergence of new local businesses and services related to the management, maintenance, and operation of the facilities.
In his opinion, the success of agrivoltaics "should not be measured in installed megawatts, but in its ability to positively transform the lives of people in rural areas." "It represents a future opportunity for farmers by offering them economic stability, access to new technologies, environmental sustainability, and a leading role in the energy transition," he argued.
Iberdrola has declared itself a pioneer in smart agrivoltaics in Spain by launching the first plant using this technology in 2022 at the González Byass and Grupo Emperador vineyards in the Toledo town of Guadamur.
The installation allows the layout of the modules to be adapted to the needs of the vineyards, regulating sunlight and temperature through the shading of the panels. Called Wine Solar, it has a 40 kW capacity and is equipped with trackers controlled by an artificial intelligence algorithm capable of determining the optimal position of the solar panels placed on the vines at all times.
