The Tarragona Water Consortium (CAT), together with Endesa, will have the most important photovoltaic installation on water tanks in the hydraulic sector in all of Spain. In total, with an approximate area of five football fields, the CAT will have 8,569 solar modules and a power of 4.7 MWp distributed between its central facilities (in Tarragona) and the Drinking Water Treatment Station (ETAP, in L ‘Blister).
This April the first of the two parks will be launched, located at the Consortium’s headquarters in Constantí. There, 1,902 panels have already been installed, which will provide 17.7% of the energy consumed in this equipment. Specifically, the almost 2,000 panels will generate 1,610 MWh per year of clean and renewable energy, a production equivalent to the average annual domestic consumption of about 340 homes. With the energy produced in this first phase, the emission into the atmosphere of 400 tons of CO2 per year will be avoided, the equivalent of the absorption capacity of more than 2,400 trees. The arrangement of these plates, which extend over 9,200 m² above the water tanks, occupies the equivalent of the size of one and a half football fields.
During the visit to the Constantí park works, the president of the CAT, Joan Alginet, recalled that “from 2022, 100% of the energy consumed in the Consortium is green because the use and promotion of renewable energy is one of the strategic pillars of the CAT. The launch of this first park is proof of this, but we want to go further and, over time, increase the percentage of self-consumption. If these two facilities will provide approximately 10% of the energy we require, we have set the goal of reaching 15% self-generated green energy by 2026.
Pioneering model of public-private collaboration in the sector
The Tarragona Water Consortium has been a pioneer in opening a project of these characteristics to a company specialized in energy services such as Endesa, which was awarded as a result of a public bidding process. Thanks to the financing model with which Endesa works, the CAT will not have to make any initial investment, so it will be the energy company that will assume the global investment of 5.6 million euros for the installation of the two plants. In this type of contract, a pioneer in the public sector of water transportation, a fixed price is established associated with the energy produced by the self-consumption facilities and it is stipulated that Endesa will be in charge of the construction, operation and maintenance of the facility. infrastructure during the 10-year duration of the contract.
In the words of the director of Endesa in Catalonia, Enric Brazís, “the collaboration model that Endesa offers in self-consumption projects is a very viable alternative so that public entities can carry out their decarbonization process without extra economic efforts and with a good result in “the reduction of its ecological footprint and its energy consumption bill. For this reason, Endesa offers all its knowledge of the energy sector, the most cutting-edge technology and the support of a solid company.”
The total energy consumed by the CAT is of renewable origin
In order to cover the rest of the energy that the CAT needs to carry out its activity and continue supplying drinking water to more than sixty municipalities and twenty industries, the entity has an agreement with Endesa Energía, the marketing company of the Endesa group. This is a contract with energy set at levels that allow it to maintain competitiveness and reduce energy costs. As of today, the 59 GWh of annual consumption of the Tarragona Water Consortium is already 100% green energy of renewable origin.
The second phase of the project in L’Ampolla is underway
The start-up of this installation of plates on the roof of a tank concludes the first of the two phases of a project that will culminate with a second park at the L’Ampolla Drinking Water Treatment Station (ETAP) that Endesa , with the support of the SOLCAM company, has already begun to install. The second and final phase of this project is scheduled to come into operation during the last quarter of the year. When this has been fully executed, CAT will be the water supplier with the largest photovoltaic installation on water tanks in all of Spain.
This project represents an important advance in terms of renewable energy generation and, at the same time, exemplifies the power of circularity, since it guarantees the reduction of the carbon footprint by eliminating the need to transport energy from distant sources, directly benefiting the environment. With initiatives like this, the CAT has managed to reduce CO? emissions by almost 10% during 2023 compared to the previous year.
Endesa is a leading electricity company in Spain and the second in Portugal. In addition, it is the second gas operator in the Spanish market. Develops an integrated electricity generation, distribution and marketing business. It also offers electric mobility services, where it is one of the main charging point operators in Spain, and, through the Endesa X brand, value-added services aimed at the electrification of energy uses in homes, companies, industries and Public administrations. Endesa is firmly committed to the United Nations SDGs and, as such, decisively promotes the development of renewable energies through Enel Green Power Spain, the digitalization of networks through e-distribution, and Corporate Social Responsibility. In this last area we also act from the Endesa Foundation. Our human team totals around 9,000 employees. Endesa is part of Enel, the largest electricity group in Europe.
