“We try to satisfy part of the electricity consumption with solar panels so that farmers in the irrigation community have cheaper and more stable electricity prices, but we compete with investment funds that want to install large solar parks in the best farmland.” , laments Víctor Sas Lamora, technician at the Comunitat de Regants Garrigues Sud and owner of ten hectares of olive trees in super-intensive care. Along the same lines, Ramon Miret Calzada, technician from the Segrià Sud Regants Community and owner of seven hectares of olive and almond trees, warns that “without water to irrigate, all this will become a desert and we need cheap energy to be able to pump irrigation water, otherwise our crops are not economically viable.”
The Garrigues Sud and Segrià Sud irrigation communities form part of the 33% of irrigated crops in Catalonia, which are mostly concentrated (76%) in the province of Lleida. This 33% of land provides 70% of Catalan agricultural production, a figure that is increasing both due to the growth of the irrigated area and the fall in production of dryland lands, seriously affected by the drought.
However, irrigation has costs, and in the case of these two communities they are especially high because they must pump water from 40 meters above sea level to 780 meters. In Garrigues Sud, the average elevation is about 330 meters, while in Segrià Sud it is about 500 meters, making them the community of irrigators with the highest energy consumption by pumping in Catalonia, according to their technician.
“The only way we can be economically viable is to invest in energy efficiency and renewables. With current electricity prices we don't even consider pumping water when the price is higher; We only pump when the rate is the most economical,” says Miret. In both communities, it is “an accompanying irrigation, for when rainwater is not enough, and the only viable crops are shrubs because they have a greater profit margin than cereals,” explains the Garrigues community technician. South.
Sas estimates that 20% of the production costs of its olive trees are due to electricity for pumping irrigation water. In Segrià Sud, there are 424 KW with solar panels in operation, and the community has a plan to progressively install up to 18 MW on 25 hectares of land, with an investment of between 18 and 20 million euros. This power would allow the community to cover between 60% and 70% of electricity consumption.
The community of Segrià Sud is finishing locating the 25 hectares of land on which to locate the solar panels. “They must be close to the pumping stations to avoid electricity losses. To do this, we are acquiring abandoned land, not very productive or with other problems, because there is space for everything without having to sacrifice the best farmland,” indicates the technician.
Segrià Sud covers 5% of electricity with self-consumption, thanks to one hectare of solar panels installed in 2019. The community is pending the start-up of 1.5 more hectares and has planned the construction of 2.5 hectares medium term. All these investments have specific aid for irrigation communities.
In both communities, high-efficiency localized irrigation, known colloquially as drip irrigation, is used. Víctor Sas specifies that Garrigues Sud has an efficiency of 93%. That is, only 7% of the water is lost, losses that are due to evaporation, leaks and filter cleaning. “There are many irrigation communities that are still not doing things well, but if they are not doing it it is because they cannot do it alone, because they need help to modernize. If we want local agriculture, we must help them financially because in the dry land there is only misery; “We could not feed Catalonia without irrigation,” says this 34-year-old farmer.
Both farmers lament how large renewable energy projects add pressure to investments in irrigation and agriculture. “They make it difficult to incorporate new farmers or the growth of existing farms because they put pressure on the purchase of land. Furthermore, when there is a leak in any of the pipes located under the land with solar parks, who will dare to manipulate water with electric current so close,” warns Ramon Miret.
Sas prefers to see it as an opportunity that the territory cannot miss. “The key is in whose hands the generation of energy falls. We must prevent what happens with the wind turbines, which are here, occupying land, but without contributing economic activity to the territory as agriculture does. If we use it well, solar is a brutal opportunity for the territory. If not, it could be your death sentence.”
