- The CTC Technology Centre participates as the technology partner and will be facing the most challenging packages of the Project
- H2OLOCK will also implement flexible solar photovoltaic cells for renewable energy generation.
- LIFE H2OLOCK is part of the LIFE Programme, the European Union’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action.
Santander, 27 of December 2022 -. The CTC Technology Centre will be the technology partner of the H2OLOCK project, an initiative that aims to develop an innovative system to reduce the evaporation of water from agricultural reservoirs by up to 90%. In particular, CTC will provide the project with its experience and capacity in advanced simulation, one of the centre’s lines of expertise.
H2OLOCK project aims to validate a novel concept for sustainable water management in agricultural water reservoirs with the final goal of preserving fresh water maintaining its quality (e.g by preventing algae growth) while producing renewable energy in agricultural water reservoirs (AWR). The solution designed will consist of a combination of modular floating covers with floating self-ballast blankets. The implementation of the solution is expected to reduce water evaporation in AWR up to 80-85%.
In this sense, CTC’s main role will be to simulate digitally and calculate the effects of environmental conditions affecting the floating blankets and their performance. These calculations will improve the self-ballasted design of the blankets to reduce the impact of wind, water and adverse environmental conditions.
In addition, CTC will design, develop and deploy an advanced sensor network in the final demonstrator that will enable Internet of Things (IoT) technology to monitor the state of the blanket modules and evaluate the experimental results.
H2OLOCK will also implement flexible solar photovoltaic cells on the blankets for renewable energy generation. This will contribute to achieving energy self-sufficient irrigated farms with the energy generated by the photovoltaic cells integrated in the AWR covers.
The consortium of H2OLOCK is coordinated by the engineering Arada Ingenieria. One of the partners of the consortium is Arana Water Management, an innovative SME which owns the patent of the modular floating solutions. The demo sites will be provided by two irrigation associations, which will be partners in the consortium and first adopters of the technology: one in Spain, Community Irrigation Lorca and another in Portugal, the Association of Wine Growers of the Municipality of Palmela. Moreover, the consortium is complemented with CTC and the SME, Global Factor International Consulting.
LIFE H2OLOCK is part of the LIFE Programme, the European Union’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action. The project kicked off the 13th of September in the municipality of Lorca (Murcia), hosted by Community Irrigation Lorca, partner in the consortium.