Enel Green Power S.p.A.
Enel Green Power S.p.A.
06/09/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/09/2023 04:10
Put the Sun in the water: the floating photovoltaic system at Venaus
09 June 2023
Put the Sun in the water: the floating photovoltaic system at Venaus
EGP is building a floating photovoltaic system on a reservoir at the hydroelectric power plant at Venaus, Piedmont. It's an innovative solution that improves safety and sustainability, but doesn't take up land.
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Venaus
The town of Venaus ishalfway between the Equator and the North Pole, on the border between Italy and France, on the ancient Moncenisio road that crossed the Alps. Historically and geographically, it is a crossroads, and today it is also at an important intersection on the renewable energy route.
In actual fact, its hydropower plant will be solarized, or hybridized with photovoltaic energy: this is where we are setting up an innovative floating photovoltaic plant on a large reservoir serving the hydropower plant.
Integrating solar and hydropower
Work began on June 8: it will be the first plant of this kind for the Enel Group, and will follow shortly after the one in Montelupone (near Macerata), where solar panels will be installed on the new roof of a diversion canal. These are two different, but effective, ways of combining the energy of water with that of the Sun.
The photovoltaic modules that will be installed, with a capacity of about 1 MW and an expected annual output of about 1,200 MWh, will be the next-generation variety produced by our 3Sun factory in Catania, Italy. This is the future Gigafactory, which will soon be the largest in Europe.
These are bifacial panels: in other words, they are equipped with solar cells that can absorb light on both sides. In this way, they can capture direct and reflected solar radiation, generating more electricity in the same surface area. This is an advantage which will be further enhanced at Venaus by the highly reflective water surface on which the support structures will float.
The best of two technologies
Hybridization between hydropower and solar energy offers advantages for both technologies. Compared to a photovoltaic system on land, the efficiency of solar panels improves because of the relatively lower temperatures. This is due to the proximity of the body of water on which they float. Indeed, photovoltaic panels gradually lose efficiency as the working temperature increases. Furthermore, the water in the tank can be used to clean the panels, thus avoiding the need for additional water resources.
The hybridization of the Venaus hydropower plant will also enable better remote monitoring. This is thanks to the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system, which is normally adopted for photovoltaic plants. It will be integrated with the hydropower plant, thus making it possible to monitor the status and performance of the various components in real time.
" class="FreeText ">The town of Venaus ishalfway between the Equator and the North Pole, on the border between Italy and France, on the ancient Moncenisio road that crossed the Alps. Historically and geographically, it is a crossroads, and today it is also at an important intersection on the renewable energy route.
In actual fact, its hydropower plant will be solarized, or hybridized with photovoltaic energy: this is where we are setting up an innovative floating photovoltaic plant on a large reservoir serving the hydropower plant.
Integrating solar and hydropower
Work began on June 8: it will be the first plant of this kind for the Enel Group, and will follow shortly after the one in Montelupone (near Macerata), where solar panels will be installed on the new roof of a diversion canal. These are two different, but effective, ways of combining the energy of water with that of the Sun.
The photovoltaic modules that will be installed, with a capacity of about 1 MW and an expected annual output of about 1,200 MWh, will be the next-generation variety produced by our 3Sun factory in Catania, Italy. This is the future Gigafactory, which will soon be the largest in Europe.
These are bifacial panels: in other words, they are equipped with solar cells that can absorb light on both sides. In this way, they can capture direct and reflected solar radiation, generating more electricity in the same surface area. This is an advantage which will be further enhanced at Venaus by the highly reflective water surface on which the support structures will float.
The best of two technologies
Hybridization between hydropower and solar energy offers advantages for both technologies. Compared to a photovoltaic system on land, the efficiency of solar panels improves because of the relatively lower temperatures. This is due to the proximity of the body of water on which they float. Indeed, photovoltaic panels gradually lose efficiency as the working temperature increases. Furthermore, the water in the tank can be used to clean the panels, thus avoiding the need for additional water resources.
The hybridization of the Venaus hydropower plant will also enable better remote monitoring. This is thanks to the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system, which is normally adopted for photovoltaic plants. It will be integrated with the hydropower plant, thus making it possible to monitor the status and performance of the various components in real time.
rendering Venaus
From the point of view of the land, the great benefit of this type of plant is that it does not take up much space. Moreover, since these plants are installed on a reservoir and not on a lake, they do not impact the landscape.
It should also be considered that the presence of the floating cover reduces evaporation, and thus the loss of water from the reservoir. This protects a valuable resource for the hydropower plant but also for other civil uses in the area.
To make the plant even more sustainable, we will make the floats with "food grade" polyethylene, so as to neutralize any contamination of the tank water. The plant's electrical transformer will also be of the resin type, i.e., mineral oil-free, and this will eliminate any risk of spillage of non-biodegradable substances.
And, in order to increase people's safety, ladders will be installed on the floating structure. This will enable operators to climb out, should they have the misfortune to fall into the water. Safety in the facility will also be enhanced by the presence of an LED lighting system (which is more efficient and sustainable) and CCTV cameras.
Finally, maintenance will be simplified by the double anchoring of the floating structures, which can be moved from one side of the reservoir to the other, when maintenance is required.
In terms of transportation, we also took care to minimize the environmental impact: the panels will taken by ship from the 3Sun factory in Catania to Genoa, and from there they will go overland to Venaus.
It's a sustainable journey, like that of innovation itself.
" class="FreeText gutter-bottom-small ">Sustainability and safety
From the point of view of the land, the great benefit of this type of plant is that it does not take up much space. Moreover, since these plants are installed on a reservoir and not on a lake, they do not impact the landscape.
It should also be considered that the presence of the floating cover reduces evaporation, and thus the loss of water from the reservoir. This protects a valuable resource for the hydropower plant but also for other civil uses in the area.
To make the plant even more sustainable, we will make the floats with "food grade" polyethylene, so as to neutralize any contamination of the tank water. The plant's electrical transformer will also be of the resin type, i.e., mineral oil-free, and this will eliminate any risk of spillage of non-biodegradable substances.
And, in order to increase people's safety, ladders will be installed on the floating structure. This will enable operators to climb out, should they have the misfortune to fall into the water. Safety in the facility will also be enhanced by the presence of an LED lighting system (which is more efficient and sustainable) and CCTV cameras.
Finally, maintenance will be simplified by the double anchoring of the floating structures, which can be moved from one side of the reservoir to the other, when maintenance is required.
In terms of transportation, we also took care to minimize the environmental impact: the panels will taken by ship from the 3Sun factory in Catania to Genoa, and from there they will go overland to Venaus.
It's a sustainable journey, like that of innovation itself.