A newly proposed solar project in Portugal could almost double the nation’s installed PV capacity. The installation will likely require an investment of around €1 billion.
The urban planning department of the municipality of Santiago do Cacém, Portugal, has told pv magazine that the environmental authorities are currently evaluating a proposed 1 GW solar project with Tesla batteries.
Several Portuguese newspapers, including Expresso and Diario Campanario, have already revealed that the project is being developed by Sunshining. However, the unit of Spanish-Portuguese solar developer Prosolia has thus far declined to comment on the project, which will likely require an investment of around €1 billion.
At the beginning of January, Portuguese grid operator Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) said that 80 power projects, totaling 17 GW of capacity, are under consideration for the national electricity system. However, Portugal’s grid capacity is already strained. Now, the only way to develop PV projects in the country is to participate in public auctions or to obtain a grid-connection approval among hundreds of project proposals that have yet to reach the status of “projects of interest” for the system.
Prosolia secured a project in the solar auction held by the Portuguese government in 2019. If built, its new project could almost double the nation’s total installed PV capacity, which stood at 1,030 MW by the end of October 2020.