Cemeteries turned into solar farms without relatives being told
Story by James Badcock
Valencia has begun turning its cemeteries into solar farms, prompting anger from relatives of the dead who say they were not consulted over the plan to meet net zero targets.
Officials in the Spanish city hope to build Europe’s largest urban solar farm with close to 7,000 panels being built on graveyards, under a project named Requiem in Power (RIP).
Three small cemeteries have so far started generating renewable power with larger sites next in the €3.2million (£2.6 million) project, which is part of the city’s plans to become carbon neutral by as early as 2030.
Unveiling hundreds of solar panels gleaming atop tombs in the 200-year-old Campanar cemetery earlier this month, Carlos Mundina, a local official, admitted that relatives of the deceased had not been consulted on the plan.
“This is a public-owned facility and the [graves] are leased for 30 or 50-year periods so we don’t need to consult anyone,” Mr Mundina, Valencia’s climate and energy transition chief, said.
“Cemeteries are places of absolute quiet, something solar energy does not disturb,” he added.
A city hall spokesman said: “We are looking for all public space possible to help meet our targets.”
Most of the electricity will be by public services and slightly over 10 per cent kept aside as free energy for vulnerable families.
‘They should ask the people first’
“I had no idea. I wonder about the aesthetic aspect,” María Luisa Mora, a 76-year-old whose parents are buried in Valencia’s General Cemetery, said.
“It’s a bit weird. I’ve got nothing against it but they should ask the people first,” said Esther, 29, a Valencia resident.
“It’s always the same; the government just does what it wants without consulting,” she added.
Mr Mundina insisted that RIP will benefit citizens, noting that Valencia’s social services had already identified 800 households receiving assistance to pay bills who will now get energy free thanks to the extra solar power pumped into the grid.
“These users will also be taught about energy efficiency and how to make the best use of solar power by adapting their consumption to the hours of the day in which it is generated,” he added.
An organisation funded by city hall, València Clima i Energia (VCiE), has been tasked with educating citizens about climate change, helping create the city’s first energy communities of locals tasked with installing solar panels.
Empar Puchades is the president of a 62-strong energy community in the working-class Valencia suburb of Castellar, which has been allowed to place its solar farm on the roof of a local community centre.
‘All very well for better off’
“People who live in houses and who can afford to spend €8,000 or €9,000 on their own solar installation – that’s all very well. But what about folk without that kind of economic clout?” Ms Puchades said.
For a minimum initial investment of €600, community members have seen their electricity bills cut in half, especially if they can adapt to using appliances during the daytime as their energy is free when the panels are producing it.
VCiE’s Corentin Girard says better information for users and access to renewables schemes creates a double-win situation for people and the environment. “It is about reducing energy consumption, but doing it in a way that is fair.”