Iberdrola has announced that it will build a new wind farm in Portugal after having obtained the necessary environmental authorization. The facility will be located in the districts of Vila Real and Braga and will have a power of 274 megawatts (MW), which will supply electricity to a total of 128,000 homes.
The plant will be the “largest hybridization project in the country”, according to the energy company, in addition to being the first facility to implement both wind and water energy. The project was conceived to take advantage of the injection point into the electrical grid already built in the Tâmega hydroelectric complex.
The next step in the processing of the facility will consist of applying for a production license to the General Directorate of Energy and Geology of Portugal, while Iberdrola’s objective is to obtain all permits and begin work at the beginning of 2025.
On the other hand, Iberdrola has highlighted that by having two technologies – hydroelectric and wind, pending incorporation – capable of alternating in the Tâmega hydroelectric complex, the dependence on changing environmental conditions and the limitations due to possible lack of resources such as wind, which facilitates more stable renewable production and allows optimization of electrical infrastructure.
Hybrid generation plants use the same connection point to the grid and share infrastructure, such as the substation, which in this case will require building an extension that was already designed in the initial project, and the evacuation line for the electricity produced.
The Tâmega hydroelectric complex (composed of three plants) is one of the largest energy initiatives in the history of Portugal, with a total investment of more than 1,500 million euros and an installed capacity of 1,158 MW.
Tâmega will end the emission of 1.2 million tons of CO 2 annually and will diversify production sources, avoiding the import of more than 160,000 tons of oil per year, according to Iberdrola.
