Danish Eurowind Energy opens second solar plant, to invest over €400M
The Danish company also has three other projects planned for Castelo Branco, two wind and solar farms and a green hydrogen project.
Danish multinational Eurowind Energy, has inaugurated its second solar park for electricity production in Portugal this year and wants to invest more than €400 million in the country by the end of the decade, it was announced.
Pedro Pereira, director of the company for Southern Europe, told journalists that, “by the end of this decade, €400 million will be invested” in the construction of several projects, including small production photovoltaic parks in Covilhã, Castelo Branco, Mafra, Vouzela and Bragança, with a total installed power of 50 megawatts (MW).
“Half will start construction soon and the other half by the end of this first half to enter into operation next year,” he said.
The Danish company also has three other projects planned for Castelo Branco, two wind and solar farms and a green hydrogen project. “We aim to hybridise our projects with solar and wind, adding technology to store energy,” he explained.
The official warned of several difficulties facing the renewable sector in Portugal, which are related to the lengthy process for issuing opinions and licenses, legislative inconsistencies, lack of human resources” in several bodies such as the directorate of energy and geology and undersizing of the national electricity grid due to insufficient and incapable electrical injection points.
“It takes a long time to process applications, which explains why it has taken six years to operate a park, which discourages investment,” he said, referring to the Triana Solar Park, which was inaugurated on 31 January in the Alenquer municipality in the Lisbon district.
However, he recognised the government’s efforts to simplify compliance with the green agenda.
At the inauguration of the €18 million investment, the company’s CEO, Jens Rasmussen, said they are “committed to building more parks in the country”.
The park has an installed power of 22 MW, spread over 41,000 photovoltaic modules over 30 hectares.
The promoters estimate a production of 41.5 gigawatts per year, capable of providing electricity to more than 14,000 families.
At the inauguration, the secretary of state for energy and climate, Ana Fontoura Gouveia, said that 57% of the electricity produced in Portugal already comes from renewable sources and the goal is to increase this amount to 80% by 2026.
The country already has an installed capacity of 2.5 GW and the goal is to increase 1 to 1.2 GW this year.
To simplify licensing processes, the government has launched the ‘Environmental Simplex’ programme.
