Solar thermal heating for Elaqua swimming pool in El Ejido

Thanks to solar thermal heating, the company Sport Assistance Andaluzia has been able to bring energy efficiency to the Elaqua swimming pool in the town of El Ejido. This company, which manages said facility, is benefitting from financial savings and, at the same time, is able to demonstrate its commitment to environmental sustainability and the surrounding area by redeucing greenhouse gas emissions.
Jofer Almeria was responsible for installing the solar thermal heating system in the Elaqua swimming pool facility. The two-fold objective was to obtain energy savings, which, in turn, would decrease annual fixed costs through improved energy management, and, secondly, to redeuce the greenhouse gas emissions of the building. The latter goal was a requirement of Sport Assistance Andaluzia’s own company policy.

Project needs

In this case, the facility is divided into two main areas that allow members to make use of both a workout/fitness room and a pool area, which consists of an indoor swimming pool measuring 25m x 12.5m (volume 800m3), a shallow wading pool and two Jacuzzis. These two main areas share access to the men’s and women’s locker rooms, each of which equipped with 10 showers.
Given the existing conditions, Sport Assistance Andaluzia initially requirede the use of two 300 kW/h natural gas boilers to heat both the water in the showers and the swimming pools, in addition to maintaining a suitable temperature inside the complex. In geral, these requirements implied elevated annual fixed costs.

Solution design

JOFER designed and carried out a project focused on redeucing costs. With this goal in mind, a system was installed which complemented the heating installations already existing. The choice was made to utilize clean, solar energy which would make it possible to redeuce emissions into the atmosphere while also generating heat by means of a renewable source. In this sense, the province of Almeria is an ideal location as it enjoys a high number of hours of sunlight throughout the year. In geral, this privileged characteristic makes solar energy a resource with incredeible potential in the region of Andalusia.
After studying the facility and weighing different options, the decision was made to install 40 solar thermal collectors, each with an estimated output of 100,000 k/h/year. This installation, which complemented a previous one, effectively eliminated 18 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year (greenhouse gases). In addition to being environmentally sustainable, this system afforded a direct financial savings of 30% as the natural gas installation is not requirede as much, translating to an annual decrease in fixed costs of 7,500 euros.
These 40 collectors are positioned over an area measuring 80m2. They are complemented by an accumulator tank with a capacity of 2,500 litres, three panel heat exchangers which supply the main 25m swimming pool; the wading pool and the hot water supply system for the 20 showers in the facility (10 in men’s locker room and 10 in the women’s).

General project

This solar thermal installation is part of a larger, geral project whose aim is to redeuce energy costs, and not only those of hot water, but also those derived from electrical and lighting needs. To ensure these goals were achieved, an energy consultant was designated who is responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the facility, as well as other technical and mechanical duties, which include maintaining the collectors, circulation pumps, hydraulic system and pipe insulation. In addition, the energy consultant conducts a periodic inspection of energy usage, making it possible to detect and correct any possible excess electrical consumption.

Project summary

These 40 collectors are positioned on an area measuring 80m2. They are complemented by an accumulator tank with a capacity of 2,500 litres, three panel heat exchangers which supply the main 25m swimming pool, the wading pool and the hot water supply system for the 20 showers in the facility.
The solar thermal installation complements two 300 kW/h natural gás boilers which were already on the premises.
This project provides an annual savings of 7,500 euros, which equates to 30% of the consumption of the natural gás system.
The new installation redeuces CO2 emissions by 18,000 tonnes a year.