Benidorm installs a photovoltaic solar pump in the ETAP to save energy and reduce CO2 emissions

Benidorm City Council has started the works to convert the ETAP's drinking water pumping to photovoltaic solar pumping, an action that is being carried out on the roof of the Station's main water tank, located on Beniardá Avenue. The connection will be made in the internal network of the private consumption facilities.

These works focus on the implementation of a photovoltaic solar installation for self-consumption connected to the internal network to feed the pumping system and are 100% financed by the Provincial Council of Alicante, which is in charge of contracting and managing the necessary works.

The intervention is part of the Provincial Energy Savings Plan, annuity 2019, to which the Benidorm City Council was able to adhere for having drawn up the Sustainable Energy Action Plan.

With this system, explained the Councilor for the Water Cycle, José Ramón González de Zárate, "the water will be pumped using the radiation captured by the solar panels as an energy source". In this way, the solar light energy obtained will be transformed into a direct current that will feed a speed converter. This, in turn, will feed an alternating current pump to be able to raise the water to a storage tank from which it is distributed to the network using gravity.

González de Zárate has pointed out that this system offers numerous advantages, among which he has highlighted "energy savings compared to the standard network supply, a reduction in CO2 emissions and other pollutants and the improvement of the efficiency and performance of the pumps thanks to to the use of a frequency converter, among others”.

In addition, this system allows having a fixed kWh production price against the constant increase in the price of energy and the contracted power. Likewise, the useful life of the installation is expected to reach 25 years with almost zero maintenance.

Once the new system is implemented, the forecast indicates that the annual pumping will be 52,926 cubic meters, which will mean energy savings of 31,750 kWh. Taking this consumption into account, the annual CO2 emissions will also save 12,446 kilos per year.

The mayor has highlighted in this regard that the execution of this action "favours the achievement of the municipal strategic planning objectives in terms of energy saving and efficiency that are already foreseen in our Sustainable Energy Action Plan and the Master Plan for Self-consumption in Buildings Municipalities, as well as in the planned implementation of renewable energies”.

“Since 2015 we decided to bet strongly on sustainability and energy efficiency and we have not stopped since then because it is one of the main lines of action of this government. For this reason, at this time, we are not only undertaking all the actions to improve our sustainability, but we are also trying to access all the aid and subsidies that are made available to us by any public administration” concluded González de Zárate.