Portugal has launched the latest round of solar tenders and plans to develop 262MW floating photovoltaic projects in seven dams across the country. The Alqueva dam in the southern Algarve region will install 100MW of floating photovoltaics, which is the largest project in this tender, followed by the 50MW project in the Castelo de Bode dam in central Portugal. These projects are expected to be put into operation in 2023.

(Alto Rabagão dam has built a floating photovoltaic test project. The dam will be the site of a large floating photovoltaic power station)

Bidders can submit their plans from January 29th to March 2nd, 2022, and the bidding will be held on April 4th. João Galamba, Minister of Energy of Portugal, said: “We are sure that this tender will arouse strong interest. Portugal plans to hold a series of tenders in the future to use the country’s reservoirs.”

João Galamba has previously stated that because developers do not need to find suitable sites on their own, floating photovoltaics can reduce land supply risks.

The latest tender was originally scheduled to be held in September for a 500MW floating photovoltaic project. Previously, Portugal held two tenders for ground solar projects in 2019 and 2020, both of which were sold at record low prices.

Ignacio Cobo, senior consultant of consulting firm AFRY, said in a speech this week that bidders have two ways to participate in the bidding: 15-year fixed electricity prices or through contributions to the system. Participants must pay a certain amount within 15 years.

In Portugal’s previous floating photovoltaic tender, the utility company EDP installed a 220kWp pilot project at the Alto Rabagão dam. Through the upcoming tender, the project will build a 42MW power station. Last summer, EDP began construction of another floating photovoltaic power plant at the Alqueva Dam. EDP said the power station may be put into use before the end of 2021.

APREN, the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association, welcomed the tender plan. Association CEO Pedro Amaral Jorge said earlier this year that Portugal’s tenders are beneficial to the solar industry. These tenders attract foreign investors and can also help Portugal achieve its low-carbon goals.

Last weekend, Portugal closed its only remaining 628MW coal power plant. At present, Portugal has become the fourth EU country to stop using coal for power generation.

Portugal's goal is to reach 9GW of solar development capacity by 2030. The recently announced projects of companies such as Galp and Lightsource bp have promoted the development of the Portuguese terrestrial photovoltaic industry. Lightsource bp plans to invest 900 million euros (US$1.1 billion) to develop solar projects with a total capacity of 1.35GW.

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