In a statement, EDP states that the project for a park with 12,000 solar panels in the Alqueva dam reservoir “received the green light to start construction”, stating that the “goal is that it can produce energy by the end of this year and supply the energy for 25 percent of families in the region”.

After obtaining the final license to start its installation, “the forecast is that the work on the park will start in the summer and that, by the end of this year, it may already be producing energy”, adds the company.

According to the electric company, with an annual production capacity of 7GWh, the expectation is that this floating solar park will supply the energy for 25 percent of consumers in the region (Portel and Moura).

The future solar park, which also has a battery storage system, will be integrated with the Alqueva water plant, a pumped water plant and one of the largest energy storage systems in the country. “This project is being designed in a hybrid operation model, since the pumping system allows the use of wind and solar energy, in periods of lower consumption, to pump water from the reservoir and, thus, reuse it to produce new hydroelectric energy”, EDP explains.

“Alqueva will become a kind of living laboratory, allowing the testing between renewable (hydroelectric) and non-expendable (photovoltaic) renewable energy production technologies, as well as long-term energy storage technologies”.