Valenciaport — 2024-01-09
Members Corner
The Port Authority of València (PAV) and Valencia Terminal Europa (VTE) – a company belonging to Grimaldi Group – have signed this morning an agreement that regulates the installation, operation and maintenance of the photovoltaic infrastructure whose construction is already underway on the roof of the vehicle silo located in the VTE concession in the East Dock.
To this end, Mar Chao, President of Valenciaport, and Antonio Crespo, Director of Valencia Terminal Europa, held a working meeting to discuss the details of the agreement which will enable the Port of València to continue to make progress in its sustainable energy development.
After the meeting, Crespo pointed out that “this project is part of a joint strategy between the PAV and Grimaldi Group to advance in the decarbonisation process and achieve the Zero Emissions Objective in the Valencian docks”. In this sense, the business group has several joint initiatives underway with the Port Authority of València and the Valenciaport Foundation, such as the hydrogen projects or the installation of OPS (Onshore Power Supply) in the Transmed terminals so that the ships are connected to the electricity grid during their stay in the port.
For her part, Mar Chao emphasised that “with the generation of approximately 11% of the electricity required by the port for its operation, the setting up of this infrastructure will consolidate the commitment to the climate neutrality of the activity of the site”.
The photovoltaic plant, the construction of which has already begun, is the responsibility of the joint venture made up of Lantania S.A.U and Tecmo Instalaciones and represents an investment by the PAV of more than €16 m. The project is financed by the European Union’s Next Generation funds and the Spanish Government’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
Characteristics of the installation
The solar plant is located on a surface area of 27,700 m2 – equivalent to almost five football fields – on the roof of the terminal operated by the Grimaldi Group company. The infrastructure will have 10,773 photovoltaic modules installed on a metallic structure inclined at four degrees and facing south. Four transformers will be installed in two transformation centres with two units of 1,250 kilovoltamperes (kVA) each and another two of 1,600 kVA. This installation will generate around 9,000 MWh/year, which is approximately 11% of the Port of València’s electricity consumption.
This is the second photovoltaic installation awarded by the PAV in the Valencian precinct. The first of these was the plant – which is already being tested – at the Príncipe Felipe dock by the PAVASAL-PAVENER joint venture. This solar park will generate 2,353 MWh/year which is equivalent to 3% of the electrical energy. With these two plants, the Port of València will obtain 14% of its electricity consumption.
Valenciaport is also studying new locations for a third photovoltaic plant which would be larger than the two already allocated. The aim is to increase the use of these clean energies with a view to 2030: zero emissions.
In this line, it should be remembered that the Port of Gandia’s solar plant located in shed 4 on a surface area of 4,500 square metres, with a power output of 990 MWh/year, is ready to come into operation. This installation makes the Port of Gandia the first European port to be energy self-sufficient.
Valenciaport and its commitment to decarbonisation
First came the one at the Port of Gandia, followed by the solar plant at Príncipe Felipe Dock in the Port of València and today the one at the Valencia Terminal Europa vehicle depot. Solar energy is already here and joins hydrogen, Liquefied Natural Gas or railways in a strategy that includes many more initiatives with clean energies that are already underway. The Port Authority is working on sustainability actions to meet the strategic objective of ‘Valenciaport 2030: zero emissions’, which will reduce dependence on fossil fuels and promote energy autonomy. In this sense, in addition to these solar projects, there are other initiatives such as the location of wind turbines in the Port of València, the construction of two electrical substations to connect the engines of ships docking at the Valencian precinct to the electricity grid, the use of hydrogen in port activity or the commitment to the railway in the ports of Sagunto and València, among other projects.