Region of Valencia, Spain

Keywords: renewable energy region, 100% renewable energy self sufficiency region, Region of Valencia, renewable energy in Region of Valencia.

Valencia Community is Spain autonomous community which is located on the Mediterranean Coast (Figure 1). The capital is Valencia City. The region comprises of three Provinces; Valencia, Alacant, Castelló. It is bordered by:^[1]

• north:Catalonia
• west: Aragon and Castile-La Mancha
• south: Murcia
  

Figure 1. Region of Valencia^[2][3]

Total area of the region is around 23,255 km². The population is around 4,874,811 inhabitants. The density of population is about 209.6 inhabitants/km².^[1]

Energy Utilization

Transport sector is the largest consumer of energy in the Valencia Community. The utilization of energy by sector is:^[4]

• transport: 39.9%
• industry: 32.5%
• housing: 12.5%
• service: 9.8%
• farming and fishing: 5.3%

Background

In the Valencia region, renewable energy sector is considered as an attractive field for developing business opportunities of renewable sources (e.g. wind, solar) aligned with to support energy efficiency and sustainable mobility policies, in particular the development of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. There are some reasons for developing renewable energy in the sector of green cars:^[5]

• energy efficiency: improving the energy efficiency of engines
• environment: improving life in the cities due to the absence of emissions (CO2, NOx, SO2) and its lower noise.
• energy dependence: reduces the need for petroleum-based fuels and reduces import
• industry: new possibilities and opportunities for the industrial sector, especially for the automotive sector.

Aim

The aim of the development hydrogen for transport is to convert Valencia into one of the first European Hydrogen Communities.^[4] Valencia hopes to become an international leader in the deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.^[5]

Target

Target in the development hydrogen for transport is to develop hydrogen technology solutions to increase efficiency and to plan hydrogen infrastructure and future deployment R&D.^[5]

Regional Policy^[5]

• The Regional Ministry has set up an Energy Infrastructure Plan between 2005 and 2010 (budget of €5 billion) and a policy tending to foster the use of RES and to reduce the energy dependency of the region.
• The Regional ministry for Enterprise, University and Science developed a regional Starter Plan (2005-2007) for the industrial sector engaging in renewable energies.
• Parts of the budget of both plans are expected to cover H2FC related initiatives in proportion not yet fixed (assumption that they will account a part of 10% of the total budget).

Energy Policy

The government develops an energy policy based on its own energy model, committed to sustainable development:^[5]

• savings and energy efficiency: better use of energy resources, reducing energy consumption.
  
• renewable energy: use of clean energy sources in all sectors.
• research and development (R & D + i): using the most advanced technologies in the energy field and promote their development.

Renewable Energy Development in the Transport Sector

Renewable energy development in the transport sector is realized into fleet management and boosting alternative fuels:^[4]

• Programa CO2TXE 2010;
• Investment in electricity supply stations, Natural Gas, LPG, Fuel Cell and Hydrogen stations;
• Promoting biofuels.
  

Regional Strategy
Regional strategy of green cars are:^[5]

• Promotion of demand: grants for the purchase of vehicle (Programa CO2TXE).
• Creation of Charging Stations Infrastructure: support for the establishment of refuelling stations (natural gas, LPG, hydrogen, electrical), promotion of biofuels by creating network supply points (Figure 2) and biofuel production plants (installing or adjusting pumps, biodiesel or bioethanol production plants, warehousing).
  
• R & D + i: EPV project (urban transport based on the use of electric vehicles integrated into the power grid and using electricity produced by renewable energies); car sharing pilot project in Valencia with electric vehicles.

Renewable Energy in Valencia Region

Hydrogen for Transport
Current projects and activities are:^[5]

• Valencia Hydrogen Community. Planned: bus fleet, city fleets based on hydrogen and fuel cell technologies (buses, police cars, other services), fuel cell locomotive (led by Vossloh), demo projects by NTDA Energia (fuel cell company).
• Vehicles. Planned: bus fleet, city fleets, fuel cell locomotive (industry led project)
• Filling Stations (Figure 2). Planned: refuelling station (hydrogen production via electrolysis with electricity from wind power)
  

Figure 2. Bio-oil Station^[5]

Networks and Partners at project level are:^[5]

Shell Hydrogen, Ford, Carburos Metalicos (Air Products), NTDA Energia, Enercon, Generalitat Valencia, Iberdrola, planned PPP with Madrid.

Funding:^[5]

There are no specific H2FC funding programmes at regional level at the moment. Funding for H2FC technologies is associated at generic RES programmes for both, RTD programmes and infrastructure development and demonstration.

• National level: period 2001-2005: investment of approximately €50 million for H2FC technologies, National Plan for Renewable Energies (RES): funding of €5 billion nationwide (10% for the Valencia region).
• Regional level: Energy Infrastructure Plan (2005-2010) budget for H2FC technologies (€5bn), Regional Starter Plan (2005-2007) for the industrial sector engaged in RES (€7.37m). Both plans provide budgets for H2FC technologies expected to 10%.

Wind Energy

In 2009, 13 wind parks with total power 397 MW were installed in the region of Valencia (Figure 3). The manufacturing subsidiary is Acciona Energy, a Spanish company operates in infrastructure, energy, and water service in 30 countries.^[6]

Figure 3. Boira Wind Farm^[6]

Solar Photovoltaic

The biggest photovoltaic installation in the Valencia Region is located in the town of Onda, in the province of Castellón. This complex is composed of six solar plants built on the same site. 624 photovoltaic panels have been installed for each plant supported by south facing metallic frames placed at a 30º slope. Totally, 3,744 BP Solar Photovoltaic panels have been installed in the six plants as the whole. Each solar plant has a capacity of 99,840 Wp/unit and will generate 138,000 kWh/year. Overall, the six installations will generate 828,000 kWh/year.^[7]

The land where these plants have been located have no agricultural use hence the environmental impact of the site has been low. The complex is located in an area where there is no shade and it has been designed to respect the surroundings as far as possible. Total amount of electricity produced by the plants represents a saving of over 800 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year and it is equivalent to a plantation of 50,000 trees. The electricity to be produced is equivalent to the consumption of 200 families.^[7]

Each of the plants is owned by private investor, which commissioned BP Solar (a company of design, manufacture and marketing of solar photovoltaic systems in Europe) to design the installation, supply the equipment, and set up each plant. The project has been subsidised by the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (Official Credit Institute) and the Instituto de Diversificación y Ahorro Energético (Institute of Diversification and Energy Saving).^[7]


List of References

1. Valencia (Region). http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valencia_%28Region%29. Accessed May 08, 2010.
2. Comarques del País Valencià. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Mapa_comarcal_oficial_del_Pa%C3%ADs_Valenci%C3%A0.png. Accessed May 08, 2010.
3. Spain Map. http://eurocall.webs.upv.es/eurocall2009/imagenes/spain_map.jpg. Accessed May 25, 2010.
4. The Vision of the Regions EGCI. http://www.r2sconference.eu/downloads/wednesday_14_EGCI_presentations/Antoio_Cejalvo_EGCI_The_vision_of_regions.pdf. Accessed May 08, 2010.
5. Demo-Projects on Hydrogen for Transport: The City of Valencia, Spain. http://www.h2moves.eu/regions/valencia.html. Accessed May 08, 2010.
6. Acciona increases Spanish wind power capacity 49%. http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/6909/acciona-increases-spanish-wind-power-capacity-49/. Accessed May 08, 2010.
7. The biggest solar photovoltaic installation in the Valencia region built in Castellón. http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=9024973&contentId=7046874. Accessed May 08, 2010.