The infrastructure is integrated into the Tâmega hydroelectric complex that the company has in the neighboring country.
It will have a power of 274 MW and will take advantage of the already built grid injection point in a hybrid way with Támega to increase the contribution of clean energy.
This project will allow greater energy security by helping to achieve independence from fossil fuels and moving towards the decarbonization of the economy.
Iberdrola has obtained the latest environmental approval from the Portuguese Government to build the largest wind farm in the country. Thus, the company takes a step forward in its expansion in the neighboring country, promoting the transition towards an economic model based on decarbonization through renewable energies and independence from fossil fuels, which will allow greater security and energy autonomy. with clean and local production.
The new wind farm will have a power of 274 MW, equivalent to the consumption of 128,000 homes, and will be built in the districts of Vila Real and Braga. This is the largest hybridization project in the country, which was conceived to take advantage of the injection point into the electrical grid already built in the Tâmega hydroelectric complex, and the first to combine wind and water energy.
Specifically, the company achieves the second and last favorable environmental permit for the Tâmega Eólico project. This is the so-called DCAPE (‘Decisão da SERVICIOe Ambientale do projeto de execução’ – Environmental Compliance Decision of the Execution Project).
This step supposes the approval by the Portuguese Environment entity, APA (Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente) of the construction project, complying with all the conditions and measures included in the favorable Environmental Impact Declaration that Iberdrola received last March 2023.
In this way, the energy company continues with the processing of the installation. The next step will consist of applying for a production license to the General Directorate of Energy and Geology of Portugal. Iberdrola’s goal is to obtain all permits and begin work at the beginning of 2025.
Cutting-edge technology
The incorporation of wind energy to the Tâmega hydroelectric complex increases the contribution of clean, cheap and competitive energy to the electrical system of these facilities and guarantees that they supply the maximum amount of green energy originally authorized for each project, for as long as possible.
By having two technologies capable of alternating, dependence on changing environmental conditions and limitations due to the possible lack of resources such as wind are significantly reduced, 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.
In addition, they are located on land that was already destined for renewable generation and allow for common roads and facilities for the operation of both technologies. All of this results in a much lower environmental impact than two independent plants would have had.
Coexistence with the environment
Iberdrola will implement different environmental measures on the ecosystems in the area of ??influence of the wind farm. Furthermore, given the proximity of both projects, continuity will be given to some of the measures already successfully implemented in the Tâmega Electroproducing System, such as the planting of native species, actions related to forest management of the surrounding forests.
Measures that favor fauna will also continue, such as grass plantations, plantations of species with fleshy fruits, construction and recovery of ponds or installation of nest boxes for bats.
In addition to the biological and archaeological support during its construction, a series of Ecological Systems Monitoring Programs (avifauna, bats, wolves, flora and habitats) will be implemented as control measures over its possible impacts and to be able to define new minimizing measures.
Tâmega hydroelectric project
The Tâmega hydroelectric project is one of the largest hydroelectric projects carried out in Europe in the last 25 years. It is made up of three plants: the Alto Tâmega Hydroelectric Plant, with an installed capacity of 160 MW, the Gouvães Pumped Storage Plant (880 MW) and the Daivões Plant (118 MW), the latter two in operation since 2022. .
The three plants have a total installed capacity of 1,158 MW, which will mean an increase of 6% of the total installed electrical power in the country.
