By Sergio Goncalves
LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal’s government said on Friday it was keen to create a cluster of wind farms off its Atlantic Ocean coast that could eventually reach a total capacity of around 10 gigawatts (GW).
Lisbon last week approved four areas in the ocean where offshore wind farms can be installed, moving a step closer to launching the first offshore licence auction, which it plans to hold this year.
It said on Friday a plan drawn up by the economy ministry in coordination with the environment ministry envisages the occupation of more than 2,000 square kilometres (772 square miles).
Secretary of State for the Sea Lidia Bulcao said the plan, which already has a strategic environmental assessment, “will allow the development of the offshore renewable energy cluster in Portugal”.
The government said it aims to develop industry and attract investment, adding it was important to “create scale, synergies and predictability in the medium term”.
Environment Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho said Portugal wants to allocate and install 2 GW, through power auctions, by 2030, although its ambitions go beyond that.
“Later, depending on the process’ maturity, we may gradually move towards licensing up to 10 GW. We are taking decisive steps in this area,” she said in a statement.
Portugal already has a small, 25-megawatt floating wind project off Viana do Castelo that is owned by Ocean Winds, a joint venture between Portugal’s main utility EDP and French company Engie.
A number of other utilities have shown potential interest in the auction, including Germany’s BayWa, the Irish-Spanish consortium IberBlue Wind, fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and a joint venture between Portugal’s Galp and France’s TotalEnergies.
Bulcao said the plan “promotes transparency and legal certainty, and ensures that the creation of new opportunities for economic growth and technological innovation is done in a sustainable way”.
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Chris Reese)
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