Benidorm is making progress on the construction of the photovoltaic solar installation at Poniente parking lot

The installation of photovoltaic panels at Poniente municipal park-and-ride facility is progressing as planned and will be completed before the end of June. This project, which began last January, was visited this morning by the city's mayor, Toni Pérez, accompanied by the Councillor for Urban Scene, Francis Muñoz, and other members of the city council and municipal technicians, as well as representatives from the company carrying out the work.

The project consists of a collective self-consumption photovoltaic solar installation, with surplus energy being offset at the aforementioned parking facility.

This initiative falls within the framework of the 2023 "Green Benidorm" Tourism Sustainability Plan, financed by the European Union through the NextGenerationEU funds, and constitutes "a strategic action in the municipal policy of energy transition, sustainability, and efficiency in the use of public resources," as the mayor emphasised during the visit.

Poniente park-and-ride facility has a total of 362 spaces, 151 of which are above ground. Of these, 112 will be covered by canopies on which photovoltaic panels will be installed, in addition to utilising an existing concrete canopy. “In total, 624 photovoltaic modules will be installed, integrating clean energy production with improved user comfort and protection from solar radiation,” the mayor explained.

The project involves the construction of a photovoltaic solar plant with a total nominal capacity of 303.3 kW, distributed across four independent installations, designed for collective self-consumption with surplus compensation. The energy generated will be primarily used to power municipal buildings and facilities located within a 2,000-meter radius, allowing any surplus production to be credited towards the electricity bills of these municipal utilities.

According to Toni Pérez, “the energy produced will supply, among other uses, the services of the park-and-ride facility itself and the electric vehicle charging points, thus reinforcing the sustainable mobility model that we are promoting from the City Council.” With this project, the mayor continued, the council “reaffirms its commitment to environmental sustainability, energy efficiency, and urban innovation, aligning the city's development with European decarbonization and ecological transition objectives.”

The project is being carried out in the parking area located on Avenida República Argentina. This facility will generate approximately 465,700 kilowatt-hours of renewable energy annually, resulting in a reduction of more than 214 tons of CO2 per year, “directly contributing to the fight against climate change and reducing the carbon footprint of municipal services.”

The total project budget amounts to €615,222.30, including all costs for execution, permitting, and commissioning of the facility. The contract was awarded to IMESAPI S.A. for €412,137.42. The planned construction period is four months, meaning the work will be completed before June. Once finished, the facility will become operational and begin generating clean energy for municipal services.

However, while the work is underway, "part of the parking lot will remain open for use so that spaces continue to be available during that time," said the mayor, who also noted that this project "adds to those already carried out on the roofs of educational centres and municipal facilities to continue advancing in self-consumption, savings and energy efficiency."