The CAT solar park for self-consumption at the l’Ampolla water treatment plant (Delta del Ebro) is launched, with 6,667 panels and an area equivalent to three and a half football fields.
The new CAT solar installation covers nearly a third of the energy consumed by the l’Ampolla water treatment plant for water purification and distribution.
The project, developed by Endesa, has entailed a global investment of 5.6 million euros and will contribute to reducing the CAT’s carbon footprint by more than 1,900 tons of CO2 per year.
The Tarragona Water Consortium (CAT) has today inaugurated, together with Endesa, a new photovoltaic park for self-consumption at the Drinking Water Treatment Plant (ETAP) in l’Ampolla, a municipality considered the gateway to the Ebro Delta, in Catalonia. The installation includes a total of 6,667 solar panels and is expected to produce 5,469 MWh annually, which covers 26% of the needs of the ETAP. Specifically, the panels are located on the roof of the Treated Water Tank and occupy an area of ??30,800 m², equivalent to an area similar to three and a half football fields.
This is the second self-consumption solar park inaugurated by the CAT, thanks to a pioneering model of public-private collaboration with Endesa, and is capable of generating 8% of the Consortium’s total energy consumption. The first was launched last May at Pumping Station 3 (EB-3), where the Consortium has its headquarters, and since then it has already contributed 9.5% of the annual consumption of these facilities located in the municipality of Constantí, which is 65 kilometres north of l’Ampolla.
With the entry into service of both facilities, the entity – which supplies drinking water to 69 municipalities and 27 industries in the Tarragona district – has a global installed capacity of 4.75 MWp, with a total of 8,569 solar panels distributed between the two solar parks that, together, provide 10% of the total energy that the CAT requires to carry out its activity.
The project has involved an investment of 5.6 million euros, which has initially been assumed by Endesa as the successful bidder in the public tender process. In this way, the CAT has not had to make any initial investment and will be able to allocate the resources to other initiatives, an innovative type of contract in which a fixed price is established associated with the energy produced by the self-consumption facilities and stipulates that Endesa will be responsible for the operation, maintenance and exploitation of the installed infrastructure during the 10 years of the contract. Once this decade ends, the CAT will fully manage the photovoltaic installation.
During the opening ceremony, the president of the Consortium, Joan Alginet, announced that “it is a great pride for the CAT to have the largest photovoltaic installation for self-consumption in the water treatment and transport sector in the entire State, but we do not want to stop here. We are already working on new projects that will allow us to increase our own production of solar energy. Among the ideas we have on the table is the option of partially covering some section of the irrigation channels of the Ebro Delta.”
In turn, Albert Pagès, head of public administrations and tenders at Endesa in Catalonia, said that “we are pleased to accompany the CAT on its path towards sustainability and this new solar park in l’Ampolla represents a giant step in this strategy and in the commitment to the energy transition”. Pagès added that “thanks to this public-private collaboration initiative, which has an innovative solution, we are able to generate clean and renewable energy equivalent to the consumption of nearly 1,600 homes, thereby reducing the carbon footprint”. Specifically, “with the l’Ampolla photovoltaic solar plant we have estimated that we will be able to save nearly 1,500 tonnes of CO2/year. If we add the installation of Pumping Station 3, the total saving in carbon footprint is more than 1,900 tonnes per year”.
However, if the production forecasts are met, the Consortium could save approximately half a million euros in direct energy purchases from third parties, which would help adjust the price of the tariff for the consortium members over the next few years.
100% green energy for the CAT
In order to cover the rest of the energy that the CAT needs to carry out its activity and continue supplying drinking water to the nearly one hundred municipalities and industries in the Camp de Tarragona and Tierras del Ebro, the entity has an agreement with Endesa Energía, the Endesa group’s marketing company, which has Guarantees of Renewable Origin and, in this way, all the energy consumed by the CAT is 100% green.
This is a long-term contract (2022-2026) that guarantees that 72.3% of the cost of energy has a competitive price and thus ensures stability to deal with fluctuations in prices set in the market and, consequently, reduce energy costs.
Endesa
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. It develops an integrated business of electricity generation, distribution and marketing. It also offers electric mobility services, where it is one of the main operators of charging points in Spain, and other value-added services aimed at the electrification of energy uses in homes, businesses, industries and public administrations. Endesa is firmly committed to the United Nations SDGs and, as such, it decisively promotes the development of renewable energies through Enel Green Power Spain, the digitalisation of networks through e-distribution and corporate social responsibility. In this last area, we also act through the Endesa Foundation. Our human team totals around 9,000 employees. Endesa is part of Enel, the largest electricity group in Europe.
Tarragona Water Consortium
The Tarragona Water Consortium is a non-profit organisation with its own legal personality that collects water from the Ebro canals, makes it drinkable at the l’Ampolla treatment plant and distributes it to all the consortium members. The CAT began supplying water on 30 July 1989 and is governed by Law 18/81 on water actions in Tarragona. The Consortium, through a network of 405 km of pipelines, supplies water to different municipalities in the regions of Baix Penedès, Tarragonès, Conca de Barberà, Alt Camp, Baix Camp, Baix Ebre and Montsià, which represents 36% of the territory of all the Tarragona regions (an area of ??6,303 km²) and 85% of the population (709,789 inhabitants, INE 2021), which increases significantly in summer as a result of tourism. It also supplies water to the consortium’s industries, mainly in the petrochemical sector located in the Camp de Tarragona and the food and paper sectors.
The CAT is aware that the resource it manages, water, is one of the main pillars of sustainable development and is key to responsible socioeconomic development in a context such as the current one, marked by an increasingly important presence of social, environmental and good governance requirements. The consortium’s top priority is to offer a supply with a guarantee of service, as well as the quality of the water supplied.
