Floating Solar Plan Offers Alternative to Panels on Vega Baja Farmland

Researchers at the University of Alicante have proposed installing floating solar panels on La Pedrera reservoir to help power the Torrevieja desalination plant, cut the cost of producing water for irrigation and spare Vega Baja farmland from large solar developments.

Andrés Molina and Pablo Melgarejo, from the university’s Water Institute, presented the plan at a conference on desalination, energy and agriculture in Torrevieja on 9 November. The researchers estimate that the solar park would occupy less than 10 per cent of the reservoir’s approximately 1,300 hectares and meet part of the desalination plant’s electricity needs.

The proposal follows local opposition to an earlier plan by Acuamed for a solar farm covering about 100 hectares in San Miguel de Salinas. A subsequent preliminary design would spread the panels across several farms in the district. The researchers warned that this could alter the Vega Baja’s traditional agricultural landscape and lead to the removal of thousands of trees.

La Pedrera was built to store and regulate water from the Tagus–Segura transfer. The reservoir lies within the buffer zone of the Sierra de Escalona Natural Park, so the floating solar proposal would need environmental and legal assessment. Molina and Melgarejo said Spain’s Water Act provides for floating solar installations and pointed to the desalination plant’s designation as a project of national interest.

The cost of desalinated water was a central issue at the conference, which was opened by Torrevieja mayor Eduardo Dolón. A government subsidy scheme introduced in 2023 set the price of desalinated water from Torrevieja for irrigation at €0.327 per cubic metre. The scheme limits support to a maximum of 10 years and links it to the construction of solar facilities intended to bring down the plants’ long-term electricity costs.

The solar facilities have yet to be built, leaving growers uncertain about how much they will pay for desalinated water once the subsidies come to an end.

Experts at the conference said the Tagus–Segura transfer remains essential to farming in the Vega Baja, with desalinated water serving as an additional supply. They also stressed the importance of using all available sources, including the Júcar–Vinalopó transfer, groundwater, surface water and treated wastewater.

Blending desalinated water with supplies from the Tagus–Segura transfer can help keep irrigation costs down and reduce boron concentrations. High levels of boron can damage some tree crops, making the quality of the water supply an important consideration for growers alongside price and availability.

Researchers also presented studies on how the mineral content of desalination brine changes through the year and how to limit the effects of boron on crops. Another strand of research is examining how energy communities could help irrigation associations adopt renewable power and cut their electricity bills.

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