Galp will begin construction of its first solar project in April, in the municipality of Alcoutim, with an estimated installed capacity of 144 megawatts (MW), according to a statement.
The oil company, who did not disclose the amounts involved, said that it “awarded the construction of its first large photovoltaic solar energy project in Portugal, in the municipality of Alcoutim, to the consortium formed by Jayme da Costa and Visabeira, thus opening a new front in the its transformation into a more sustainable company”.
This project “comprises four photovoltaic plants that extend over an area of 250 hectares”, and “the estimated annual production capacity is 250 thousand megawatt hours of electricity, enough to supply more than 80 thousand families and avoid emission of 75 thousand tons of CO2 per year.”
According to Galp, "the scope of work carried out by the Jayme da Costa consortium, a Portuguese company focused on solutions in the energy area, includes all electrical, mechanical and civil works for the four photovoltaic plants, excluding the supply of photovoltaic panels" , and “the Visabeira group will be in charge of all civil construction work”.
The company estimates that "construction work should start in April and the first electrons should start to be produced in the first quarter of next year."
The Galp group also confirmed that it was committed to “invest up to 40% of its annual investment in projects related to the energy transition to a low carbon model, and between 10% and 15% in renewable energies and new businesses”, and that “ at the moment, Galp has 900 megawatts of photovoltaic solar capacity in production, being the third largest Iberian producer of this type of energy.”
Susana Quintana Plaza, executive director of Galp responsible for the area of renewables and new business, indicated that the company's commitment “is clear” in electric mobility projects, “in biofuels or in decentralized energy production, and will accelerate in the near future, in areas such as hydrogen or the battery recycling, because this challenge we face is urgent and requires scale”.
Original article available in Portuguese at http://postal.pt/
