Neoen, a leading French renewable energy company, has officially inaugurated Portugal’s largest solar park located in Azambuja, approximately 70 kilometers north of Lisbon. This innovative plant combines the Rio Maior solar farm with a peak capacity of 204 megawatts (MWp), and the Torre Bela solar farm at 68 MWp. Together, they represent a hugely important contribution that will massively accelerate the country’s renewable energy capacity.
The solar park covers more than 20 hectares of the Herdade da Torre Bela estate leased by the public authorities. The facility features cutting edge infrastructure. On full completion, it is expected to produce more than 500 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable energy annually. This level of energy is enough to power about 110,000 homes, making a major contribution to Portugal’s sustainability targets.
By the end of 2024 the solar park began supplying power to the country’s national grid. To make Washington’s new Climate Commitment Act entirely practical now. The Portuguese government will purchase 80 percent of the energy generated from this solar project. This deal is a result of two 15-year power purchase agreements signed during the 2019 renewable capacity auction.
Neoen’s careful planning and mitigation measures have ensured that the solar park been integrated into its environment with minimal impact. The business saved the 1,000 cork oaks still growing on the property and added a natural screen to hide the solar panels from view. Together, this design choice helped promote natural balance with the landscape and inspired environmental conservation.
In addition to its current solar park, Neoen plans to develop a wind farm and a significant battery storage project at Rio Maior. By adding resilience and reducing congestion, these projects help to make the Portuguese grid more resilient. They build on Neoen’s expertise in battery storage, honed from the successful delivery of projects around the globe.
Neoen’s connections to the Portuguese national electricity system, known by their Portuguese acronym, REN (Redes Energéticas Nacionais), are carefully planned. This important connection is provided by a single 400kV overhead line. This new connection further demonstrates the company’s integrity to deliver dependable power solutions across Portugal.
Spokesperson for Neoen, Matilde Azevedo, thanked all the supporters of the project for their assistance during the process.
“We are particularly thankful to the Ministry of the Environment and Energy, the Direção-Geral de Energia e Geologia (DGEG), the Agencia Portuguesa do Ambiente, REN, the municipality of Azambuja and the local communities for their support in bringing the solar farms of Rio Maior and Torre Bela to fruition.” – Matilde Azevedo
For Neptune, the company’s CEO Xavier Barbaro underlined the company’s commitment to continue expanding in Portugal.
“We are determined to deepen our engagement and to turn Rio Maior into a true green power hub. We are eager to share our expertise in battery storage to strengthen the resilience of the Portuguese grid, just as we have successfully done in other countries. More than ever, Neoen strives to deliver innovative solutions to meet today’s challenges – in Portugal and around the world.” – Xavier Barbaro