A large photovoltaic plant with 4,000 plates –exactly 3,976– will cover the roof of the workshops for lines 9 and 10 of the metro, in the Free Zone. The facility will generate electricity for this transportation infrastructure. The Generalitat invests 3.21 million euros in the project, which has started to be executed and is expected to be ready by the end of the year. It will produce about three gigawatts of energy per year, capable of covering about 3% of consumption, similar to that of some 900 families. And it will lead to savings in CO2 emissions equivalent to removing 266,000 vehicles a year from the accesses of Barcelona.
"It is the largest photovoltaic self-consumption infrastructure of the Generalitat to date and allows us to take a leap forward in the generation of renewable energy," explained the president, Pere Aragonès, yesterday during a visit to the works, which he did accompanied by the new Regional Minister of Territories, Ester Capella. These facilities are also, he added, "a very good example" of how the Catalan Administration "puts all the assets, all the properties that belong to all citizens, at the service of the energy transition towards renewables." Likewise, added Aragonès, "they will make it possible to cover a part of the energy demand of public transport and will contribute to making it more efficient and also assuming its responsibility towards the decarbonisation of the economy".
This action is part of a Government plan to place photovoltaic panels on all the roofs of public buildings, as included in the energy prospectus approved last Tuesday at the Consell Executiu. The goal, added Aragonès, is "to reach 2050 with a country with 100% renewable energy."
The works are underway and, in a first phase that will last until autumn, they include the placement of panels on the saw structure of the roof. The rest of the roof will have to be conditioned and it is planned to put the plates later, at the end of the year.
The action is the main piece of an operation that began with the installation of 495 photovoltaic panels on the roofs of the four stations on the L10 South viaduct –Zona Franca, Port Comercial-La Factoria, Ecoparc and ZAL-Riu Vell, totaling 962 m2. Thus, as a whole, around this metro line there will be 4,471 distributed over five decks with a total area of 10,768 m2.
There are more infrastructures linked to public transport that will have solar panels, since the works to expand the workshops and garages of Sant Genís, on L3 of the metro, which include the placement of installations of this type on the roof, are under tender.
