New €18M solar energy plant to be built in Albufeira area

A new photovoltaic plant will be built this year in ed, in the municipality of Albufeira, where almost 40,000 solar panels will be installed, in a total investment of €18 million, it was announced on Friday.

With an annual production capacity of 29.6 gigawatt hours of electricity, it will supply more than 8,000 homes and avoid the emission of 9,620 tons of carbon dioxide per year, the developer said in a statement.

Construction work is due to begin this year and includes the installation of 39,564 solar panels, which will occupy 28 hectares of land, with operations expected to begin in 2021, the statement said.

This is the first investment in Portugal by investment and asset management company NextEnergy Capital, based in London.

The company, which makes this investment through the NextPower II fund, will benefit from a 10-year energy purchase contract.

Quoted in the note, the fund’s managing director, Filinto Martins, considered that the project “contributes to the economic and sustainable development of the Algarve region”, not ruling out future investments in a country with “high growth potential in solar energy production”.

The Mayor of Albufeira, José Carlos Rolo, also highlighted the importance of investment, defending the need to “look more and more at the potential of the region”, promoting investments such as this, “which constitute an added value”.

NextEnergy Capital is an investment and asset management company in the renewable energy sector, founded in 2007.

It currently manages solar assets of over two billion dollars through three investment vehicles: two private funds, NextPower III and NextPower II, and a listed investment fund, NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited.