Oil and gas company Galp has contracted a consortium to start construction work on its first large-scale PV plant in Portugal next month.
Portuguese energy solutions firm Jayme da Costa will carry out electrical and mechanical works for the 144MW solar complex in Alcoutim, in the southern Algarve region, while conglomerate Visabeira will execute civil construction works.
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Consisting of four plants installed on an area of 250 hectares, the project is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022 and have an annual production capacity of 250,000MWh.
Susana Quintana Plaza, Galp’s chief operating officer in charge of Renewables and New Businesses, said the project groundbreaking “is a sign of Galp’s commitment to transforming the country’s energy sector to a more sustainable model”.
Lisbon-headquartered Galp currently has 900MW of solar capacity in production, which it acquired from Spanish construction firm ACS Group as part of a deal last year that will see the companies deploy a 2.9GW PV portfolio in Spain by 2023.
Galp has since announced its ambition to allocate between 10% and 15% of its investments in renewables and new businesses, with an aim of reaching a 10GW clean energy portfolio by 2030.
Recent figures from SolarPower Europe reveal Portugal had an installed solar PV capacity of 1.4GW at the end of 2021. The trade body said in its EU Market Outlook for Solar Power report that the country’s solar market has “significantly developed”, driven by successful auctions last year that resulted in record-low tariffs.