Iberdrola España's Winesolar agrovoltaic plant receives the Regional Environment Award 2024 from the Government of Castilla-La Mancha
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Iberdrola España's WineSolar, the first smart agrovoltaic plant in Spain.
The Winesolar photovoltaic project − implemented by Iberdrola España together with Bodegas González Byass and Grupo Emperador in Guadamur (Toledo) − has received the Regional Environment Award 2024 from the Government of Castilla-La Mancha in the category of Renewable Energies, Sustainable Mobility and Energy Efficiency, in a ceremony that took place today in Cuenca.
The event was attended, among others, by the President of the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page; the Regional Minister for Sustainable Development, Mercedes Gómez; the Mayor of Cuenca, Darío Dolz; the Head of Proyectos Especiales Iberdrola Energía Sostenible, Alexandre Arias; the Institutional Delegate of Iberdrola España in Castilla-La Mancha, Javier Nicolás; and the two attendees who collected the award: Miguel Tejerina, from Viñedos del Tajo de González Byass, and Amelia Rodríguez, Head of Iberdrola Renovables in Castilla-La Mancha.
WineSolar is the first ever agrovoltaic plant in Spain. The facility consists of three rows of photovoltaic panels with trackers located every four rows of vineyards. It generates 40 kW of energy that is used entirely for the self-consumption of the Grupo Emperador wineries.
The movement of the plates shades the vines and maintains the humidity
The design of the plant seeks to optimise the quantity and quality of grapes produced and the generation of renewable energy. The shade provided by the solar panels, whose position is determined by an artificial intelligence algorithm, protects the vineyards from the sun at certain times and maintains the humidity of the soil − which means a reduction in irrigation and less water and energy consumption by the irrigation pumps.
Reduction of CO2 emissions
In this way, climate change is combated in two ways: by making the vineyards climate-resilient and by generating clean energy with the photovoltaic installation.
The Winesolar project aims to serve as an incentive for developing and implementing new photovoltaic plants, applied both to vines and other crops where shading can have a positive effect on their quality or production. The knowledge acquired together with González Byass allows Iberdrola España to ensure the scalability of the system − both by increasing the surface area covered by solar panels in the pilot plant and by transferring the good practices developed for the implementation of new agrovoltaic plants in other vineyards or crops.
Coexistence of renewable generation and the primary sector
This initiative is an example of the positive coexistence of renewable generation with the rural world and the primary sector thanks to agrovoltaic energy, which makes it possible to use the same area of land to obtain both solar energy and agricultural products, improving the efficiency, competitiveness and sustainability of the land use.
The Winesolar project has been carried out through the Iberdrola Group's PERSEO start-up programme, which aims to facilitate the Company's access to the technologies of the future while fostering the development of a global ecosystem of start-ups in the electricity sector with a focus on sustainability.
Committed to bring an inexhaustible source of energy within everyone's reach
Iberdrola España has consolidated its position as the leading promoter of photovoltaic solar energy − one of the most efficient technologies in the fight against climate change. The Company's commitment to the development of this renewable source will allow it to add 1,500 new solar megawatts (MW) in Spain in the coming months.