Portuguese utility EDP has begun operations on a hybrid solar and hydropower project in Portugal, the first of its kind in the country.
The 89MW Pracana complex in the centre of Portugal comprises a 48MW solar PV project, including around 90,000 modules, and a 41MW hydroelectric project at the Pracana dam. The hydroelectric infrastructure was first installed in 1951 on the river Tagus, inland from Lisbon.
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The solar project at Pracana began construction in January 2025 and is EDP’s sixth hybrid electricity project in Portugal. It already operates two floating solar and hydropower hybrid projects in Portugal, the Alto Rabagão project in Montalegre and the Alqueva site in Moura. Pracana is its first ground-mount solar and hydropower hybrid project in the world.
In Spain, the company recently signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for a hybrid solar-plus-storage project built by Spanish energy firm Zelestra.
EDP said that hybrid projects allow greater renewable energy capacity to be deployed than standalone technology sites. In the case of the Pracana complex, combining new capacity and solar technology with existing infrastructure offers unique benefits, the company said.
Using the existing infrastructure at the hydroelectric plant, including existing distribution networks, the Pracana complex reduces operating costs and minimises environmental impact “while strengthening generation capacity in a context of lengthy licensing processes,” the company said.
“Pracana is another milestone in our strategy: by combining hydropower and onshore solar, we reinforce system stability, accelerate the energy transition, and reduce territorial impact,” said Pedro Vasconcelos, head of EDP’s business in the Iberian Peninsula.
Most of the discourse around hybrid solar projects in Europe focuses on solar-plus-storage sites, which have become increasingly common across developed solar markets. PV Tech Premium heard last month that hybridisation with storage can reduce financial risk for European solar projects. Solar-plus-wind projects are common across the world too, while pairing PV with hydropower sites relies on a greater level of existing infrastructure.
Last December, the European Commission unveiled a Grids Package aimed at improving interconnection processes and expand energy infrastructure across the EU. Its “energy highways” plan included a cross-border interconnection linking the Iberian peninsula—where Spain and Portugal’s grids are largely linked—with the rest of the continent via the Pyrenees mountains.
