Increasing solar electricity generation in Mallorca

Some 40 solar parks in Mallorca at present. | Archive

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma26/06/2021 12:05
TW
1

The Balearics have this year been registering records for the production of energy from renewables - photovoltaic to be precise. On April 28, as an example, the daily production reached its highest - 17.75% of the islands' total. Since then, the levels have been below this but have nevertheless been up around the 16% mark.

The increase in this form of electricity production is notable when one considers that renewables accounted for just three per cent of the total. Over the past three years, the production has increased, but it is still way behind that of the mainland, where the average is 53% per day. The absolute record was on January 30 - 72% of all the mainland's production.

At present, there are some 40 solar parks in Mallorca. These are producing 83 megawatts. A further seven are undergoing trials and they will add another 36 megawatts. Together with Minorca, there are 63 parks in all, and the combined output is 509 megawatts. This is scheduled to increase to 600 over the next two years.

The generation of most parks is comparatively low as their size is small. The average is 6.7 megawatts. In Minorca, however, there is the Son Salomó park, which has output of 50 megawatts. The Balearic government, in general, has favoured small parks because they have less impact on the landscape and they are also of more interest to investors.

The highest demand ever in the Balearics was 1,368 megawatts on August 3, 2017, so photovoltaic energy is already in a position to meet almost half the maximum demand.