Two hybrid projects with more than 630 MWh of battery storage planned in Portugal

The Portuguese Environment Agency’s Participa portal currently features two big renewables-plus-battery project proposals.

Lightsource bp’s Sophia solar-plus-battery site – under consultation until Nov. 20 – would feature 867.148 MWp of solar generation capacity and a 300 MWh BESS comprising 60 of Chinese manufacturer Sungrow’s 5 MWh, ST5015UX-4H battery containers.

Consultation for the €590 million ($687 million) project covers the municipalities of Fundão, Idanha-a-Nova, and Penamacor, in the district of Castelo Branco.

The developer said the project’s green structure and landscape integration plan would feature the conversion and reforestation of 228 ha, including 135 ha currently occupied by eucalyptus. Lightsource added there would also be measures to restore riparian vegetation, create hedges of trees and shrubs, and encourage the natural regeneration of the cerrado and grasslands. The scheme would promote the mobility of species in the project area and its surroundings and the natural control of erosion, said the developer.

Endesa’s Atalaia solar project is under environmental assessment until next Tuesday.

Atalaia is part of the Pego Hybrid Cluster awarded to Endesa in 2022, which will feature solar, wind, and storage facilities as well as social and economic development initiatives.

The developer holds a grid connection permit for 365 MWp of solar capacity and 264 MW of wind plus 168.6 MW/337 MWh of storage and a 500 kW green hydrogen electrolyzer.

The original plan has been amended to reduce the footprint of the cluster by 50 ha by reducing solar capacity to 330 MW and raising wind capacity to 360 MW.

From pv magazine España.