Solar Farm Lights Up Lagos
If, like me, you have driven past the Solar Farm near Continente and wondered who owns it and where the electricity goes, then read on!
The farm is owned by Solpramim - Energias Renováveis, Lda, a subsidiary of local building company Rodrigues & Vermelho - Construções SA, who have been based in Lagos for over 30 years. Gonçalo Rodrigues, a spokesman for the company, tells me; “We’ve diversified to solar energy really for that reason, diversification of our business. During the strong real estate recession (2008-2012), which also affected us, we’ve tried to find some other businesses investments, solar energy did appear has an option and after understanding the way it works we’ve decided that it could be a good opportunity. And so it was.
Gonçalo kindly introduces me to the brains behind the project, electrical engineer Idelberto Amendoeira. He and I meet to discuss the park, which was completed in July 2015 and the wider subject of solar energy.
I am keen to find out exactly how much power a plant like this one produces. There are 8700 solar panels and Idelberto tells me that it is a 2MW producing plant, however, this refers to the maximum output at any given time. It averages 14 MW of energy per day going up to 16MW in the summer. To put this into context it could supply 1300 houses per day with power. The power produced is sold to EDP and generates a profit for the owner.
I am therefore surprised that we do not have more of these “photovoltaic” parks as they are called in Portuguese. Idelberto explains: “The Park was built with a special license issued by the last government in 2010. Just the license cost €1.2 million and they were sold to generate income, but this policy has stopped and it is now not possible to get new licenses.”
It seems a travesty that with sunlight being one of the Algarve´s biggest assets that there are currently only 5 of these plants generating power from this clean renewable energy source. The others are in Ferreiras, Tunes, São Brás and Cachopo.
EDP buys electricity on the free market for 0,05€ per KW but sells to the consumer at 0,16 KW + IVA. In Portugal roughly 54% of electricity is produced by wind energy, 11.5 % is from hydroelectric dams in the centre and North of Portugal, only 6-10% from solar.
Mainland Europe has a grid and electricity can be sold onto the grid when Portugal has a surplus or bought when there is a deficit. Energy is big business and with EDP having the monopoly they have no interest in incentivising private energy plants, preferring to sell to the consumer rather than them generating their own. There are also no grants are offered in Portugal to private dwellings wishing to install solar panels which could be down to the lobbying power EDP has over the government.
Idelberto shows me one project he has just worked on which is bucking the trend. A Pousada in Sao Bras, have installed 320 solar panels entirely for self-consumption, which produce 80KW of energy for the hotel. He works only as a consultant and does not install the panels himself. “I create a computer simulation,” he explains, “this calculates the energy a given site can produce. The solar panels used are a fixed structure, pitched at 30º and facing directly south for optimum energy production. There has to be the correct distance between each panel to ensure that no shadow is cast over any panel. The Algarve produces more solar exposure than in the North of Portugal, as it is slightly closer to the equator.”
After working for Electrolagos and CME, with 22 years of experience, Idelberto set up his own company HXI and employs 3 people. “Most of the work is maintenance and there are lots of bad panels on the market so a lot of the work is troubleshooting.” Idelberto can send up an infrared camera on a drone to photograph the panels to see which ones have hot spots and are not producing their optimum power. He visits the Lagos park once a month to make sure all the equipment is working correctly, check connections and carry out maintenance.
To anyone who is interested in setting up solar panels to generate their own power, Idelberto tells me that the cost for an average size house is c. €8000 and you would require 20 panels. He warns that it is not economically viable unless you are mainly consuming your energy during the day. This is because your power is only generated when the sun shines during daylight hours and there is currently no efficient way of storing that power. So you would be selling your unused power to EDP during the day at 0.05€ but having to buy it back at night for the higher price of €0,16.
Idelberto tells me that the Portuguese as a nation are also not yet sold on the idea of solar power as they do not like the look of the panels and there is a lack of knowledge or information on the topic. To be fair I have to point out that one of the reasons that in industrial countries there is more of an emphasis on “Clean Power” is due to a desire to reduce co2 emissions and dependence on fossil fuels and this is obviously not an issue in Portugal. The counter-argument would be that it would benefit the consumer if energy was cheaper and did not have to be bought from abroad.
I ask Gonçalo Rodriguez his company was influenced by the fact that is environmentally friendly or was it purely a commercial decision?“Of course. Won’t hide that it was principally a commercial decision, but knowing that we also would be helping the environment has given us even more strength to proceed with the investment.”
If any reader is consuming a lot of electricity in the day and wishes to invest in solar energy, Idelberto would advise also installing a resistor allowing your water to be heated with the same system, you will pay off your investment in 8 years. He warns against buying cheap panels which can lose up to 20% of energy in 8 years meaning that just as you pay off your investment you are losing your energy-producing potential. He can recommend the 2 companies, FF Solar and Rolear as being reputable and using good quality panels.
Gonçalo is also optimistic that the manipulation of this natural resource will grow in the future; “We have no doubt that solar energy will in the future be one of the most exploited resources (mainly here in the Algarve) and I am sure that construction will follow this trend, hopefully in a very positive way, combining the great need for energy that we have with the benefit to the environment.”
It seems like a missed opportunity, that with so much solar energy available in the Algarve that government policy is not more focused on pursuing this form of energy, we can only hope this changes in the future.
www.rodriguesevermelho.com
