The Alicante province is leading the way in terms of the amount of photovoltaic power generated in the Valencian Community.
According to the regional secretary for Sustainable Economy, Productive Sectors, Commerce and Consumption, Empar Martínez, who reports to the Directorate General for Industry, Energy and Mines, “the production of renewable energy is a priority for the Consell and the Valencian Community is advancing fast in that direction; in fact, we already surpassed Madrid, Catalonia and the Basque Country in terms of the renewable power that had been installed in 2021 and 2022”.
Villena, the second largest municipality in the province of Alicante, is an example of a balance between energy, economic, social and environmental objectives in the process of implementing photovoltaic installations in its municipality. As explained by its Town Planning Councillor, Javier Martínez, “of the 34 projects initially proposed, only the most innocuous to the environment and those capable of generating local employment in the long term have been selected “.
The presence of these facilities has opened an employment opportunity for dozens of people in the municipality. “A lot of work has been done so that the institutes provide training that allows the labour for the construction of these plants to be qualified and, in addition, to be local,” explains the town planning councillor.
There are some people who think that solar power and the natural environment cannot exist together, despite solar being better for that environment, but the placement of beehives attached to some plants is being promoted, an initiative that will boost the local economy further by generating jobs related to beekeeping. This is the case of the Alhorines photovoltaic plant, in the district of La Encina, an Iberdrola project that has just received a favourable environmental report.
According to the latest quarterly report from the GVA Directorate of Industry, Energy and Mines, Alicante also leads the number of self-consumption facilities in the entire Valencian Community, with a total of 15,457 installations. Half of them have been launched in the first nine months of 2022.
Among the ten municipalities with the most installed renewable power for self-consumption are Elche, Alicante, Orihuela, Ibi, Jávea, San Vicente del Raspeig, Villena, Mutxamel, Cocentaina and Denia.
Among the activities associated with this self-consumption, 65.9% destined for domestic consumption, hospitality with 17.6% and construction, to which 4.8% of the supply is allocated, stand out.
