Demonstration sites
Projecto Solar Flutuante para a Barragem do Alqueva
This is the name of EDPs planned park in Portugal for a 4MWp floating solar park to be installed in the Alqueva Dam.
The area available for installation of the park corresponds to a semicircular strip with a distance between 130m and 250m of the wall of the dam. The same characteristics of the floats of the floating solar project were considered in the Alto Rabagão Dam, however the panels were replaced by some of the power of 300Wp; Based on the final layout chosen, a suitable share of the park will be used to install the demonstrator moorings.
Offshore tests
The offshore tests in the Fresher project will be performed in the “Testsite Skagerrak” on the Swedish West Coast. Laboratory tests will be performed in RISE test facilities and possibly at the production sites.
Alqueva Real time data
In order to get a better understanding of the wind and wave conditions on the site, the project has installed a wave spotter buoy close to the location of the floating farm. You can follow the buoy on the map below.
Alto Rabagão
The back-up plan for full-scale testing is Alto Rabagão. Alto Rabagão Floating Solar Photovoltaic pilot project to add floatovoltaics at the Alto Rabagão pumped storage project, in Montalegre, northern Portugal, to assess the technical and economic feasibility for potential future large-scale PV installations. The pilot project comprised of 840 PV panels occupying a total area of 2500m2, with an installed capacity of 220 kW and estimated annual output of 300 MWh. The Alto Rabagão dam, a pumped storage reservoir, was chosen for its large size and adverse climatic conditions that allowed testing of the technology under the most technically demanding conditions. During the first year of installation, the net output generated was 5 per cent higher than forecasted, which represented an increase of 15 MWh in annual output, mainly due to favourable weather conditions. The mooring system withstood strong winds, waves up to one metre high, water level variations of 30 metres, and a rocky soil riverbed with maximum depth of 60 metres, all of which tested the limits of structural integrity and mooring design. Although the system’s technical performance has surpassed expectations, the technology would still require further improvements to a cost-efficient mooring solution to become economically feasible.