EDP has decided to relinquish the Grande Lago Hybrid Power Plant at Alqueva after a detailed review found the project no longer viable. The plan had combined 70 megawatts of floating solar panels with an onshore wind farm, and the project was due to start operating in 2025.
The estimated cost had climbed from more than €100 million to €169 million, including the solar and wind installations and their electricity transmission lines. EDP said the costs, along with other factors, prevented the scheme from being developed sustainably, predictably and in accordance with the company's standards.
Alqueva tender in 2022
The project was awarded to EDP Renewables through a public tender in 2022. Its total planned capacity was 154MW, and it was initially promoted as potentially the largest facility of its kind in the world.
The Portuguese Environment Agency ruled that the environmental impact study was non-compliant after two years of discussions with EDP. One principal concern involved the effects on vulture habitats of the power line connecting the wind farm to the national grid.
Portuguese Environment Agency ruling
Addressing those concerns would have required EDP to reconsider the proposed transmission corridor. Other measures to reduce environmental effects would have left parts of the project more widely dispersed, which increased technical complexity and cost.
EDP said its decision did not alter its commitment to renewable energy in Portugal. That commitment includes projects combining different generating technologies with battery storage and the modernisation of existing facilities.
One of six projects
EDP's withdrawal means only one of the six floating solar plants awarded in the 2022 competition has so far secured environmental approval. EDP is not expected to use a recent government measure allowing developers to transfer generating capacity awarded for reservoirs to alternative renewable energy or battery projects on land.
That leaves the awarded capacity tied to a project EDP has now dropped, while any replacement would still need to clear an assessment of cumulative effects alongside facilities already approved for the area. For EDP, the cleaner route is to walk away than to force a design that has already run into cost and permitting limits.
