Iberdrola obtains FID for a Portuguese wind farm

The new wind farm will have a capacity of 274 MW, equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 128,000 homes, and will be built in the municipalities of Vila Real and Braga.

It will create the nation’s largest “hybrid” clean energy program. The wind farm will use the same grid connection as the Tâmega pumped hydro complex, providing the opportunity to produce more green megawatts for households and businesses in Portugal by maximizing the efficiency of the connection point.

In particular, the company obtained the second and last favorable environmental permit for the Tâmega Eólico project. This is the so-called DCAPE (“decisão da conformidade ambiental do projeto de execução” – decision on the compliance of the detailed design with environmental requirements).

This stage includes the approval by the Portuguese environmental authority APA (agência Portuguesa do Ambiente) of the construction of the project, in accordance with all the conditions and measures included in the favorable Environmental Impact Statement that Iberdrola received in March 2023.

In this way, the energy company continues to process the installation. The next step will be to submit an application for a mining license to the Portuguese Directorate General for Energy and Geology. Iberdrola’s goal is to obtain all permits and start work in early 2025.

Incorporating wind energy into the Tâmega Hydroelectric Complex increases the share of clean, cheap and competitive energy in these facilities’ power system and ensures they deliver the maximum amount of green energy originally approved for each project for as long as possible.

Both technologies will complement each other to maximize efficiency and production, optimizing electrical infrastructure.

Hybrid power plants use the same grid connection point and share infrastructure such as a substation. An extension will be added to the substation that was already designed for the original project.

Moreover, both projects are located in areas that have already been designated for renewable energy and enable the creation of common roads and facilities to support both technologies. This reduces the environmental impact of project development.

Coexistence with the environment

Iberdrola will implement a number of measures to support the ecosystems at the wind farm location. Furthermore, given the proximity of the two projects, some measures already successfully implemented under the Tâmega pumped storage facility will continue, such as the planting of native species and forest management.

Activities supporting fauna will also be continued, such as grass plantations, plantations of species with fleshy fruits, construction and recultivation of ponds and installation of nesting boxes for bats.

In addition to biological and archaeological support during construction, a number of Ecological Systems Monitoring Programs will be implemented (avifauna, bats, wolves, flora and habitats).

Tâmega hydropower project

The Tâmega hydroelectric project is one of the largest hydroelectric projects implemented in Europe in the last 25 years. It consists of three power plants: the Alto Tâmega Hydroelectric Power Plant with an installed capacity of 160 MW, the Gouvães Pumped Storage Power Plant (880 MW) and the Daivões Power Plant (118 MW), the latter two of which have been operating since 2022.

The three power plants have an installed capacity of 1,158 MW, which will represent an increase of 6% of the total installed electrical capacity in the country. The complex is capable of producing 1,766 GWh per year, which is enough to cover the energy needs of neighboring municipalities and the cities of Braga and Guimarães (440,000 homes). In addition, Tâmega has a storage capacity of 40 million kWh, equivalent to the energy consumed by 11 million people in their homes over a 24-hour period.

Tâmega will eliminate the emission of 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide per year and diversify its extraction sources, avoiding the import of over 160,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year. tons of oil per year. In addition, it supports economic activity and employment in the region. Up to 3,500 direct and 10,000 indirect jobs during construction – 20% in neighboring municipalities – and over 100 suppliers, including 75 from Portugal.

More news and technical articles from the global renewable energy industry can be found in the latest issue of Energy Global magazine.

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Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/wind/17062024/iberdrola-obtains-fid-for-portuguese-wind-farm/