The Council of Tenerife The first phase of the plan for the installation of photovoltaic panels on the rafts of the Isl will be completed in Septembera, an initiative that will allow the production of 1,037,435 kilowatt hours (kWh) and will mean an annual saving of 400 tons of CO2. would be necessary a forest mass of 1,000 hectaresthat is, a forest mass that occupies 2,000 fields of soccerto absorb these polluting emissions, clarified the acting Island Councilor for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Javier Parrilla, who explained that this first phase, which began in 2021, has an endowment close to one million euros.
The public company Balsas de Tenerife (Balten) will conclude the first link of the Energy Rebalancing Plan 2022-2030, a project for the implementation of renewable energy in the 21 ponds on the island. Javier Parrilla recalls that the production of desalinated water entails a considerable energy cost. “In fact, electricity supply accounts for more than 30% of Balten’s operating costs; hence the great importance of promoting renewable energy in reservoirs and hydraulic infrastructures”.
The 2022-2030 Energy Rebalancing Plan contemplates a global budget of 7.7 million euros. This first phase, started in 2021 with an endowment close to one million euros, includes the installation of photovoltaic generators in four of the Balten facilities with the highest consumption. As of today, the Cabildo has completed the photovoltaic installation of the Santa Cruz Pumping Station and the the board, also located in the capital of Tenerife. Likewise, it is expected that before the end of September the installation of the hydraulic complexes of Valle San Lorenzo and Isla Baja will be completed.
floating solar panels
Phase II of the Plan, endowed with close to half a million euros, will be more focused on investment in studies, technical projects and interventions to improve electrical panels and existing facilities. However, it also contemplates the start-up of the pilot project for the installation of a system of floating solar panels in the San Antonio pond, in La Matanza. This pioneering initiative Canary Islandswill allow the performance of these facilities to be compared with those on land, “in order to choose the most efficient option, which will be the one that we will replicate in the rest of the ponds on the island”, Javier Parrilla abounds.
The floating photovoltaic plant will generate annually about 160,000 kilowatt hours (kWh), with an emission saving of 124 tons, which would be equivalent to planting some 6,200 trees.
It should also be noted that floating solar panels reduce evaporation by up to 33 percent, improve water quality (by generating shadows that prevent eutrophication), and favor the maintenance of the ponds, by producing less sludge. In addition, they do not consume land and generate 10 percent more energy when the panel is cooled.
The floating plates in La Matanza will be equivalent to planting a total of 6,200 trees
The Cabildo de Tenerife is currently investing 1.4 million euros in the repair works of the largest irrigation water pipe on the island. These are the more than 70 kilometers of reclaimed water pipes that run from Santa Cruz to Arona and are essential to guarantee the supply to the south of the Island.
The objective of these works is to preserve this strategic installation for Balten and the south, a pioneer in the Canary Islands, which on April 14 completed three decades of service and in recent years has shown great deterioration. Likewise, improvements are being made in different facilities to transfer water from Santa Cruz to the north and to open new tanks and ponds that make it possible to have reclaimed water for agriculture as an alternative for irrigation.
When the purification systems and desalination expansions are in operation, both at the Santa Cruz treatment plant and the Adeje-Arona desalination plant, this pipeline will guarantee the hydraulic balance on the Island.
The pumping station and the El Tablero reservoir already have solar panels in the capital
The works include the repair and improvement of the reclaimed water pipeline between the pumping station located under the Buenos Aires WWTP, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, to the Valle San Lorenzo reservoir, in Arona, which consists of a first section of 6.63-kilometer pipeline and carries the water to a reservoir located in El Tablero, with a capacity of 15,000 cubic meters. Both the Buenos Aires WWTP and the El Tablero Reservoir already have solar panels for self-supply.
Starting from El Tablero, the 62.22-kilometre long transport pipeline is developed, which runs practically parallel to the Autopista del Sur to the Valle de San Lorenzo pond, with a capacity of 250,000 cubic meters. The passage works, manholes and other structural elements will also be improved, valve elements will be replaced, the anchors will be reinforced and new control devices will be installed.
