Europe’s largest rooftop solar panel plant

In a project rolling out in phases up to 2026, manager Cilsa is planning to install photovoltaic panels on most of its current warehouses. The initial step was taken this week with the €6 million installation of the first solar panels on the warehouse occupied by outdoor sport specialist, Decathlon.

These 19,846 panels cover 91,692 sqm – the equivalent of 15 football pitches – and will provide an estimated 9,862 MWh per year. When complete ZAL Port expects to have panels covering up to 450,000 sqm.

President of the Port of Barcelona, Lluís Salvadó said that the development was an example of the port’s commitment to decarbonisation. “We are the country’s ec onomic infrastructure that is making the greatest effort and investment to reduce atmospheric emissions with our commitment to both photovoltaic energy and wharf electrification, developing new fuels, among other actions,” he said.

Once all planned installations for the ZAL Port come on stream, Cilsa will have installed 40MWp of power and estimates an annual power generation of 50,000 MWh.

The Port of Barcelona has its own ambitious target of annual electrical production of between 150 and 150 GWh. Around 10% is already in operation with a second phase of between 190 and 350 GWh also planned.