The 1,200-MW Fernando Pessoa solar project in Santiago do Cacém, Portugal, is due onstream in 2025. It will be able to supply power to 430,000 households, a population equivalent to nearly twice the size of Porto (the second largest city in Portugal), and avoid the consumption of an estimated 370mn m³ of gas every year, according to project partners Iberdola and Prosolia Energy.

Land for the project has been secured and its construction will create up to 2,500 jobs. The land is also to be used by local shepherds to graze sheep, and beehives will be introduced in a bid to improve ecosystem stability and boost crop yields in the surrounding farmland. In addition, planting will be carried out in the area surrounding the solar plant to restore indigenous tree species.

Iberdrola Executive Chairman, Ignacio Galán, says: ‘This solar farm sets a new benchmark in combining Europe’s clean energy ambitions with the delivery of tangible environmental and social benefits. The collaboration of the Portuguese authorities has also been essential in getting this project to this stage in record time.’

Meanwhile, the French Ministry of Energy Transition has awarded Iberdrola four agrovoltaic projects with a total capacity of 12 MW to be built in France. As a prerequisite, the projects focus on care for the environment and improvement of agriculture and livestock farming on the land, with the maximising of electricity production taking second place.

The first project, Kirch, aims to improve animal welfare and the pastures used to feed the cattle where the panels will be located, in order to increase the quality of the farm’s dairy products. The Kirch project will see the solar structures placed at a minimum height of 1.5 metres to allow the cows to find shelter under the PV panels. In addition, each panel will be equipped with a smart system that allows rainwater to be collected during winter and then used in the hot summer season to irrigate the paddock and humifidy the cows, giving them relief from high temperatures.

The prototype project will predict the onset of heat stress by cross-referencing data from the farm’s weather station and health parameters captured through smart collars placed around the cows’ necks. In the event of extreme temperatures, sensors placed under the panels will detect the presence of the cows and automatically activate the humidifying foggers. The system will also be able to predict the water needs of the grassland and activate the smart irrigation system when necessary, in order to ensure green pastures all year round, explains Iberdrola.

The other three agrovoltaic projects – Maubec, Lapenche and Solomiac – will use the PV panels’ single-axis tracker technology to optimise crop production. Installed in rows running from north to south, allowing a rotation of the PV panels between –70° and +70° in an east–west direction, the panels will be able to protect crops from frost in winter or intense sunlight in summer.

Smart sensors installed under each row of panels will collect and cross-reference plant and weather data to predict when the crops need sunlight and when they need shade. By planting complementary plantations between rows of crops, such as cereals and oilseeds, an ecosystem can be created to protect them from pests and diseases in order to optimise production and reduce the use of pesticides, reports Iberdrola.

The Kirch agrovoltaic project in France will focus on improving animal welfare and the pastures used to feed the cattle where the panels will be located, in order to increase the quality of the farm’s dairy products

Iberdrola