This Spanish city plans to transform its cemeteries into the largest urban photovoltaic farm in the country

A city in Spain is starting to use its cemeteries to generate renewable energy.

Valencia on the east coast intends to install thousands of solar panels in cemeteries across the city.

The project was called RIP – which stands for Requiem in Power – and began this month with the installation of the first solar panels.

The city intends to undertake an ambitious initiative to become the largest urban photovoltaic farm in Spain.

Valencia will create the largest urban photovoltaic farm in Spain

The city of Valencia plans to install 6,658 of these devices sunny plaques at local cemeteries. About 810 have already been buried in the cemeteries of Grau, Campanar and Benimàmet.

They will generate a total power of over 440,000 kilowatts per year.

According to local authorities, this will also translate into carbon dioxide savings of over 140 tons per year.

The energy will be used mainly to power municipal buildings, but 25 percent will also go to 1,000 vulnerable households.

Alejandro Ramon, Valencia’s councilor for the climate crisis and energy transition, also said that the project will become the largest urban solar farm in the country.

RIP is part of the wider Valencia 2030 Climate Mission, which is one of the key reasons why the city was selected as Europe’s Green Capital 2024.

The long-term goal of Climate Missions is to generate 27%. energy for the city renewable sources.

By 2030, 100% of clean energy produced will be used in infrastructure and public buildings. The city will also use only LEDs in public lighting.

Using cemeteries to produce renewable energy

Cemeteries are perfect candidates for solar panel design. These urban spaces can be used to produce clean energy without changing their original purpose – similar to the use of roofs as places for photovoltaic panels.

This is not the first time that the local government came up with the idea of ​​including cemeteries in the green energy campaign.

Saint Joachim is a cluster of islands located in the middle of the Brière marshes – a vast peat bog north of the Loire estuary in France.

Its cemetery is located east of the city’s main island, at an altitude of six to zero meters above sea level.

By 2025, 1.3 MW sunny the roof will cover the cemetery and provide electricity to the commune’s 4,000 inhabitants.

For an upfront fee of just €5, they will ultimately share in the energy it produces.

The facility will also collect rainwater for the adjacent sports complex, which will help reduce the risk of flooding.