EDP Renewables has expanded the capacity at its largest wind farm in Portugal.
The Alta da Coutada wind farm has a capacity of 187MW, following installation of six turbines.
They are expected to increase the annual production of the wind farm by 12%.
The facility is located in Serra da Padrela, in the municipalities of Vila Pouca de Aguiar and Valpaços in the Vila Real district.
The wind farm started operating in 2010 and initially had 72 wind turbines and an installed capacity of 165.6MW.
The six new turbines add 21.6MW of capacity.
“Adding more power to an operational wind farm is currently one of the main focuses of EDP Renewables, which has been a pioneer in the development of renewable projects in Portugal and has several projects that can increase its contribution to the decarbonization of the country.
“By installing more wind turbines, we are providing more clean energy to the grid in a faster way, without the complexities associated with developing new projects,” said Duarte Bello, EDP Renewables Chief Operating Officer for Europe and Latin America.
In late 2022, EDP Renewables added additional wind turbines to the Barão de São João Wind Farm in the Algarve, using two of the largest and most powerful turbines on the Iberian Peninsula for this expansion.
The company has already performed similar expansions in 11 wind farms in Portugal and intends to continue exploring ways to add more renewable capacity to its operational projects.
EDPR is evaluating the possibility of hybridizing the Alta da Coutada Wind Farm, incorporating photovoltaic generation into the complex, as it did at the Mosteiro wind farm in the Guarda district at the end of 2022.