This year, renewable energy projects should be born in Portugal with a total new installed capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW), enough to power approximately 982 thousand households. Solar power will continue to dominate investment, but electricity production from wind will gain weight, with planned projects of around 200 megawatts (MW). In addition, 2023 must be marked as the year in which the first green hydrogen production units will start operating, with an expected installation of at least 100 MW, the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment said to DN/DV.
After the three solar auctions – the last one last year for floating reservoir power plants – the installation of solar power plants has grown by leaps and bounds. Over the past year, installed photovoltaic capacity grew by 46% to 2.5 GW, contributing to the 47% increase in renewable solar production. A number that still represents only 5.8% of total electricity in Portugal, but which has increased its importance given the current energy crisis and the closure of coal-fired power stations in the country.
In the coming years, photovoltaic technology will become even more prominent, with an estimated installation of about 1.8 GW, almost the full 2 GW predicted for 2023. This figure includes the sum of the capacity in projects with a production license granted between June 2019 and July 2022, but also the self-consumption generating units (UPAC), whose installed capacity increased by 130% last year to 790 MW (0 .79 GW), the Portuguese Association of Renewable Energies told DN/DV (LEARN).
With regard to wind energy, projects with 250 MW are expected. These estimates, which take into account the permits granted up to last year and taking into account that the current legal deadlines foresee one year between the granting of the production and exploration permit, mostly include over-equipment of existing wind farms. Finerge is one of the companies that has invested heavily in this. The company led by Pedro Norton reveals that it currently has “four wind projects under construction, with a capacity of 84.2 MW, which will become operational in the first half of this year”. In addition, it will also start construction on 15 projects in 2023: nine wind energy and six solar energy with expected delivery between the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024.
If the installation of the expected 250 MW goes ahead, it will be added to the current installed capacity of 5667 MW, which has increased little in recent years. A scenario that could change with the offshore wind auctions launched by the government this year. However, because they are projects that take time to build, commissioning will take several years. The first offshore wind farm in Portugal has been developed by Windfloat Atlantic, a consortium consisting of EDP, Engie, Repsol and Principle Power. The three wind turbines installed at Viana do Castelo were commissioned a year ago, but have not yet reached the commercial stage.
For 2023, the electricity company led by Miguel Stilwell also foresees “the commissioning of more than 200 MW of solar and wind energy, through projects to equip current parks, the hybridization of wind farms, to which solar energy will be added and , also with the inauguration of the Cerca photovoltaic power station,” he revealed.
An official source from Endesa said that three renewable energy projects are being developed in Portugal, but they should not start this year. These plans envisage an investment of 800 million with 1 GW of new capacity and have a planned start-up date, in phases, between 2024 and 2026.
H2 comes from paper
Green hydrogen is one of the most important banners of the current government. To accelerate the development of this technology, the Executive will launch the first sustainable gas auction in the second half of this year.
According to Duarte Cordeiro’s office, “the first units” are expected to start up in 2023 and “at least 100 MW will be installed” of the 500 MW of production capacity provided for in the projects already announced. In the field of green hydrogen, an official source from Galp revealed to DN/DV that the final decision to invest in the 100MW project for production at the Sines refinery should be made soon.
Portugal currently has 16.5 GW of clean energy installed, a value representing an increase of 7.4% compared to 2021, but still far from the 35 GW of renewable energy that the government aims to reach by 2030 .
To achieve this ambition, the president of APREN warns that it is necessary to “move from words to deeds” to overcome obstacles in licensing and in the electricity network.” In the last 20 years, Portugal has between 10 and install 12 GW of renewable electrical at least almost twice as much to reach 35 GW by 2030,” said Pedro Amaral Jorge.
Source: DN
