Detailed design of a municipal agrivoltaic plant: renewables compatible with farming

auma supported a Vallès Oriental town council across the whole cycle of its agrivoltaic plant: from preliminary design to the detailed design for authorisation and construction, including the specific action project (PAE), the landscape study (EIIP) and the environmental impact assessment. A facility combining renewable generation with continued farming on the same land.

Project overview

The challenge

A council promoting its own renewable plant faces different challenges from a private developer:

• Double legitimacy: the project must be technically sound and, at the same time, exemplary before citizens.
• Farmland: the facility had to keep agricultural use under the panels, not replace it.
• Limited in-house capacity: the council needed a technical partner for the whole project cycle.

The auma solution

auma took the project from start to finish:

• Preliminary design to validate technical and economic feasibility and set the agrivoltaic layout (heights, spacing and orientation compatible with cropping).
• Detailed design for the authorisation and construction of the facility.
• Complete land-use and environmental permitting: PAE, EIIP and EIA.

The result

• The council holds the complete design to authorise and build the plant.
• An agrivoltaic layout that preserves farming and the landscape of the occupied land.
• A municipal energy-transition reference model other councils can replicate.

Agrivoltaics dissolves the false choice between energy and farming: the same land can produce food and electricity if the project is designed from day one with that double purpose.

Frequently asked questions

What is an agrivoltaic plant?

A photovoltaic facility designed so the land keeps its agricultural use under and between the panels: crops, grazing or beekeeping coexist with power generation thanks to a specific layout of heights and spacing.

Can a town council promote its own solar plant?

Yes. Municipalities can promote renewable facilities for public buildings, energy communities or generation, with the same land-use and environmental permitting as a private developer and strong exemplary value for the territory.

What permits does an agrivoltaic plant need?

The same as a ground-mounted PV plant — PAE, EIIP and environmental assessment where applicable — plus the specific justification of farming compatibility, which is precisely the strength of the agrivoltaic design.