The Diplomat
Iberdrola has announced that it has obtained final environmental authorization to build a wind farm in the districts of Vila Real and Braga, in Portugal, with a power of 274 megawatts (MW) and the capacity to supply electricity consumption to 128,000 homes.
The energy company explained in a press release that it is the “largest hybridization project in the country”, since it was conceived to take advantage of the injection point to the electrical grid already built in the Tâmega hydroelectric complex, and it is time the first to combine wind and water energy.
Going into the technical detail, the company has achieved the second and last favorable environmental permit for the ‘Tâmega Eólico’ project; This is the so-called DCAPE (‘Decisão da conformidade Ambiental do projeto de execução’ or Decision of Environmental Compliance of the Execution Project) by the Portuguese Environmental Agency (APA) after having harvested the Declaration of Favorable Environmental Impact.
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 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 the possible lack of electricity are significantly reduced. 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.
