The installation of photovoltaic solar panels in more than 1,400 buildings will allow the production of a fifth of all the electricity consumed by the Administration.
The Valencian engineering company Vielca Ingenieros is one of the companies awarded the Framework Agreement for the contracting of Technical Assistance for the drafting of projects, technical management and coordination of health and safety for branch and maintenance works and technical support services for architecture and engineering, promoted by Infrastructures of the Generalitat of Catalonia.
The agreement includes the execution of renewable installations in more than 1,400 public roofs and terraces. The main challenge is to install a total power of 200 megawatts between all the buildings, which will allow the production of a fifth of all the electricity consumed by the Catalan Administration. The photovoltaic panels will serve to self-supply the public buildings where they are installed. The surplus will also be used to provide energy to other nearby public services and to people in a situation of energy poverty in the area.
The duration of this Framework Agreement is two years, extendable for two more years, and the estimated value of the contract amounts to 43,010,000 euros. The Valencian company is participating in four lots (1, 3, 5 and 6), consisting of the maintenance of equipment, buildings and infrastructure, the drafting of projects and construction management (data collection, analysis of needs and design of facilities), as well as the management of supplies for unique facilities for mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Vielca is also responsible for quality control and project review, as well as technical support in the preparation and development of complementary technical tenders necessary to develop the planned works and services.
24 projects and a single objective
During this year, Vielca has submitted 61 offers corresponding to lots 1 and 3 and has been awarded 5 contracts, which involve the drafting of 24 projects, with their corresponding construction management of photovoltaic installations on the roofs of public buildings.
The works in progress basically consist of the design and subsequent construction management of installations for the production of electrical energy using solar panels for self-consumption in public buildings of all kinds in Catalonia. The period contemplated for these works is four years (two initial years plus another two years of extension). With the implementation of all these actions, Catalonia is taking a very important step in improving energy efficiency and mitigating climate change.
Institutes, police stations, hospitals and unique buildings, among those chosen
The buildings prioritized by the Catalan Administration are institutes, Mossos police stations, fire stations, hospitals, buildings of the Department of Justice, buildings of the different administrations and unique buildings, such as theaters.
This is a very ambitious project in terms of renewable energy production facilities, which will continue after the end of the Framework Agreement. L’Energètica (Public Energy of Catalonia) intends to complete the installation of all the selected public roofs by 2030. The contract includes action in any selected municipality throughout the autonomous community.
Efficient contracting model
The contracting model chosen by the Catalan Government is the framework agreement, which consists of carrying out a public tender through an open procedure where all the work is awarded to a group of companies, which subsequently tender each contract based on the need to call for a public tender. This system represents a great saving in terms of time and costs for the Public Administrations, and has been used on other occasions by other Spanish administrations with great success.
Engineering as a main value
The Vielca Group, made up of engineering, architecture, environmental, renewable energy and testing laboratory companies, has an important reputation in the field of engineering. With more than 35 years of experience and a workforce of more than 600 employees in Spain and its various branches, in 2023 it had a turnover of 12.5 million euros, of which approximately 70% corresponds to the international market.
