EDP Renewables commissions Portugal’s second solar-wind hybrid project

EDP Renewables, the renewable energy arm of Portuguese power utility EDP, has commissioned Portugal's second hybrid park to combine wind power and solar in the same location.

The project features the 21 MW Monte de Vez solar plant and the São João wind farm, which has a capacity of 22.8 MW. EDP Renewables installed 36,000 bifacial panels alongside 13 wind turbines at the site, which uses the existing electrical grid and provides energy more consistently “thanks to the complementarity between wind and solar energy production.”

EDP Renewables says the project will produce 79 GWh of renewable energy per year – enough to supply 23,000 families in the region per year.

“This project is part of EDP's strategy to continue accelerating the national energy transition, whether by investing in new renewable projects or optimizing those that have already served the regions where they are located,” said Hugo Costa, the head of EDP Renováveis in Portugal.

Portugal’s first hybrid solar and wind park was commissioned by EDP Renewables in January 2023. The complex, located on the Iberian Peninsula, added the Mina de Orgueirel PV plant to the Mosteiro wind farm in the municipality of Guarda.

The project produced 37.4 GWh in its first year of operation, which equates to enough electricity to supply 11,000 households.

EDP also installed the first solar and wind hybrid project in Spain and Poland. It announced its first PV project in the Netherlands in January.

The company claims to have more than 1,600 MW of hybrid projects under study or development in Portugal and Spain. It has said that the projects are at various stages of maturity, with expected commissioning over the next few years.

The Portuguese government has set a target of 85% of its electricity mix to come from renewables by the end of the decade. The country was powered solely by renewables for one weekend in November 2023.