Portugal battery auction seen trailing Spain for investors
Portugal’s planned battery auction is welcomed by the sector, but executives say its design may make it less attractive than Spain’s for energy storage investment.
Portugal’s planned battery storage auction has been welcomed by the energy sector as a step toward expanding grid flexibility, but industry executives told ECOnews that the scheme is less attractive for investors than the framework available in Spain.
The government has set the auction for September 14 and plans to offer 750 MW for standalone storage, plus 300 MW of “surplus capacity” linked to renewable projects with storage. Under the proposed model, municipalities would receive 30% of the revenue collected by the National Energy System from standalone storage auction proceeds, while for surplus-capacity projects they would receive 70%. Developers would also have to pay municipalities 2.5% of the net revenue generated by the projects.
João Nuno Serra, chief executive of Enforce and head of energy retailers’ association ACEMEL, said the auction is “the most transparent way to allocate capacity” and praised the existence of a timetable and higher storage targets than those set in Portugal’s energy and climate plan. But he said the Spanish regime is “more attractive” and warned the Portuguese auction is unlikely to draw “extraordinary” demand, arguing that international investors may prefer Spain once project costs are assessed.
Other executives and consultants cited similar concerns. João Amaral, chief executive of Principle Power, said the new measures show movement toward creating conditions for investment, but said Spain could still prove more competitive because of project scale and regulatory requirements.
Former energy secretary of state João Galamba said the Portuguese design assumes battery developers will have to pay to install projects, whereas in other markets battery auctions are linked to fixed remuneration.
Bruno Catela, who leads Helexia’s battery business unit, said the Portuguese model is not the most attractive for investors, although he argued it may better protect consumers than schemes that guarantee revenue.
Environment and Energy Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho said Portugal wants to remain competitive with its neighbours. According to the material presented on Monday, projects outside this auction will be subject to separate conditions to be defined by energy authority DGEG within 90 days under a decree-law published the same day.
Originally published at Eco.pt
