French renewable power company Akuo Energy has started construction at its 180MWp Santas solar PV facility in Portugal.
The company announced that it started construction yesterday, following the signing of financial documents, and is the latest development in a project timeline that has spanned several years. Akuo first submitted proposals to the Portuguese ministry of environment and climate action in July 2019, as part of a broader solar power auction, and presented the final outline of the plan in November 2021.
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The proposed scale and capacity of the project have remained consistent since its plans were accepted in 2021, and Akuo aims to build 336,448 PV modules at the facility. The company expects to finish construction, and connect the project to Portugal’s national grid, in the first quarter of 2024, and is working with Gensun, Siemens Energy and Painhas to complete building works.
“Thanks to amazing teamwork with our partners, we can now build this project at the service of Portuguese citizens: a reliable, green and cheap source of energy that will contribute not only to Portugal energy’s objectives but also its energy independence,” said Eric Scotto, Akuo president and co-founder.
“One must acknowledge the Portuguese government has always been bold and supportive and we can only but thank them for their vision and trust.”
The project will build on Akuo’s sizable footprint in the country. The company won tenders for three PV projects with a combined capacity of 370MW in 2019, and expects to finish construction at these facilities by the end of this year.
Projects such as these will be integral parts of Portugal’s new renewable power framework, which was dramatically scaled up last week when the government announced changes to its national energy and climate plan. The government is now aiming to install 20.4GW of solar PV by 2030, up from the 9GW target that was in place earlier, and looks to install 8.4GW of capacity by the end of 2025.
The government is expecting close to three-quarters of this new capacity to come from utility-scale projects, and so may look to more private investment from firms such as Akuo to help build large-scale projects within its borders.