According to pv magazine Global dated Nov. 28th, an irrigation community has built a 786 kW floating solar array on a small water reservoir in Murcia, Spain. The facility will provide power for a solar water pumping system, a desalination unit, and the community itself.

The floating structure supports 1,728 solar panels.

Comunidad de Regantes de Águilas, a Spanish irrigation community, recently completed the installation of a floating PV plant on one of its irrigation ponds in the municipality of Águilas, in the southern Spanish region of Murcia.

The 786 kW floating solar array features 4,256 Isifloating 4.0 floats from Isigenere. The floating structures support 1,728  solar panels, each with a nominal power of 455 W.

Due to the dimensions of the pond, a flexible joint has also been designed along the entire floating platform. In addition, the PV installation is directly attached to the outer slopes of the pond via aluminium profile supports. This installation, together with the floating one, provides electricity to the pumps to lift the pond and part of the desalination plant.

The installation is the second floating PV project to support water pumping in Spain. In September, the Sur-Andévalo Irrigation Community in the southern province of Huelva completed the installation of a 1.6 MW floating solar plant for this purpose. The system, which was built on a pond in the municipality of Cartaya, features floats provided by Isigenere and 3,584 solar panels, each with a rated power of 450 W.

In March, the Spanish government submitted a royal decree to regulate the installation of floating PV plants. According to its estimates, around 7.5 GW of floating solar capacity could be deployed on public bodies of water.