Conergy is building further own consumption plants in Spain, which do not rely on any solar subsidies. The two latest projects are located at an agricultural cooperative in Castellón and at a weekend home in Barcelona. There Conergy already installed the then first grid parity plant on the rooftops of the organic restaurant La Sal Varador last October.
Since then, the system supplier has realised 14 projects with a total capacity of 75 kilowatts. The power plants in Barcelona, Castellón, Girona, Huesca, Las Palmas, Tarragona, Tenerife and Teruel are producing 110,000 kilowatt hours of solar power a year. All operate with close to 100% own consumption and are thus cost-effective without benefiting from any feed-in tariff.
In Spain, a leveraged cost of solar energy of just over 10 euro cents compares to 15-17 euro cents for electricity from the grid. This means that plant owners make savings with every kilowatt hour they consume themselves and reduce their vulnerability to future rises in electricity prices.
Grid parity: Conergy supports partner with calculation tools for plant configuration
Since our first grid parity project last autumn, we have connected numerous further plants without them relying on any subsidies both on private homes as well as many commercial properties, said Luis Jiménez Gutierrez, Managing Director of Conergy Spain.
But an agricultural business has a different load profile than a restaurant or private household. Our detailed analyses have undergone continuous development and we have made use of the diverse experiences we gained in the development of a purpose-designed calculation tool. This now allows us to support our partners with the development and realisation of such power plants without any feed-in tariffs and thus advise and support them competently in a changing market.
Agricultural cooperative: 25% autarky and annual electricity cost savings of 1,500
The two latest Conergy grid parity plants with close to 100% own consumption are located on the rooftops of a holiday and weekend home in Barcelona and at the agricultural cooperative San Vicente Ferrer in Vall D'Uixo in Castellón province, some 60 kilometres north of the Spanish seaside town of Valencia on the Costa Blanca.
There, the P-Series Conergy modules of the 4.2 kilowatt project will be producing around 6,000 kilowatt hours of clean electricity each year. That will cover around a quarter of the cooperatives total energy requirements, thus providing savings of around 1,500 euros on its electricity bills. Conergy realised the plant in collaboration with its local partner Heliotec.
Barcelona: clean pool and cool drinks at holiday home thanks to solar plant
The project in Barcelona required a slightly different approach, because it is located on the rooftop of the customers holiday and weekend home. In collaboration with its local partner Ecoenginy, Conergy analysed the load profile here as well and configured the plant so accurately in line with the customers wishes that there will be virtually no electricity costs arising in the owners absence, for instance for operating the water circulation pump for the swimming pool or the refrigerators.
The plant with its Conergy PowerPlus modules will thus avoid 90% of the electricity costs during the periods when the second home stands empty yet both swimming pool and building will always be clean and ready for the owners arrival.
