Malaga goes green with solar panels above cemetery niches to reduce spiralling electricity costs

Malaga city council has decided to install solar panels on the niches in the cemetery in an effort to reduce electricity costs. Parcemasa has just put the first phase of the scheme to tender, for solar panels on 38 of the 212 blocks in the San Gabriel cemetery. They will be the type which do not lift or turn with the sun, a design which means they will not receive as much power, but they will not be visible from the ground.

This first installation, which is financed by EU funds, will cost around 947,000 euros and will take five months to complete. It is expected to generate enough energy to reduce the electricity costs by half, which means a saving of 90,800 euros a year.

The next objective, which is even more ambitious, will be to cover all 212 blocks of niches and increase power production to supply the excess to the Trévenez industrial estate and the Freight Transportation Centre, or even sell it on. City Hall is also looking at the idea of creating solar mega-parks on council-owned land, not only to save on energy bills but also to sell the surplus to the grid or to major consumers in the area.

In addition to the cemetery, the council’s Sustainable Energy Plan includes other potential sites such as the Martín Carpena car park, the old Los Asperones rubbish tip, land at La Fresnada in Campanillas to the west of Los Ruíces Environmental Centre and the high voltage line corridor which runs from the electrical substation at Los Ramos to the ‘hiperronda’ bypass.