On the factory roofs of one of the largest fruit and vegetable cooperative of the province of Granada, El Grupo S.C.A., some 1,000 Conergy PowerPlus modules will be producing clean solar power in future. Over 47,000 tonnes of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, peppers and watermelons are processed in the factory in the coastal village of Castell de Ferro each season and distributed to locations all over Spain and Europe from there now supported by sustainable energy from the rooftop. As general contractor, Conergy is responsible for the entire planning process and engineering as well as for the construction of the plant and the supply of the components.
Installed on a surface of some 1,700 square metres, the 222 kilowatt rooftop plant will produce around 324,000 kilowatt hours of emission-free power each year, fed into the Andalusian grid by two Conergy IPG central inverters. That is sufficient energy to supply over 100 households. In addition, it is beneficial to the environment: the solar plant will avoid the emission of approximately 260 tonnes of damaging CO2 a year. This corresponds to the CO2 emissions of 325 trucks covering the 1,000 kilometres from Castell de Ferro to Madrid and back thereby virtually making the transportation of the Andalusian vegetables green as well.
The membership of the El Grupo cooperative comprises around 330 small-scale and medium-sized farmers, who market their products jointly. As they do with their own products, they also insist on quality and sustainability for their solar project. Miguel Manzano Moreno, manager at El Grupo, comments: Since we are an enterprise with a decentralised structure, it was particularly important for us to realise this project with an experienced partner, who would support us competently and reliably from the planning to the installation to maintenance and management of the installation. We are convinced that both we and our solar plant are in very good hands with Conergy.
With its long hours of sunshine and high irradiation levels, the region of Andalusia offers ideal conditions for solar energy generation, says Luis Jiménez Gutierrez, Managing Director of Conergy Spain. There is great potential for rooftop plants here, especially on commercial properties, as the example of El Grupo demonstrates. Conergy has both extensive experience and sound knowhow as well the right products for this segment, which we intend to continue developing further in the future.
