Following on from a loan in the amount of EUR 145M, signed in 2009 (EDP Repowering I), which formed part of EDP’s investment programme in new and existing hydropower plants, this loan will serve to finance the re-powering of the two existing plants. For Alqueva, on the Guadiana River in the southeast of Portugal, the project will more than double installed capacity from 240MW to 496MW. At Venda Nova, which is located on the Cávado River in the north of Portugal, installed capacity will more than treble from 281MW to 1017MW.
The aim of the project is to augment peak hydropower capacity and to supply ancillary services in the market. The plants will generate electricity during peak and medium load hours and store energy during base load hours. It will improve the reliability of the power system and contribute to the coverage of electricity demand and thus to security of supply.
The project is in line with the national strategy on renewable energies decided by the Portuguese government in 2007 and forms part of EDP’s investment programme for the coming decade in new and existing hydropower plants in Portugal.
“The European Investment Bank, as the financial arm of the European Union, is pleased to finance this type of project, which has clear benefits in terms of environmental sustainability and security of the energy supply,” said EIB Vice-President Magdalena Álvarez Arza. “Indeed, these investments are of common interest to Portugal and the Bank and thus constitute one of our strategic priorities.”
