EDP to licence 1000 energy communities this year

Portugal’s energy giant EDP, which currently has 3,400 ‘solar neighbourhoods’ in the country is planning to license another 1,000 by the end of the year.

Decentralised energy production has been one of the company’s top priorities in the national market which it feels are essential to its energy transition ambitions.

One of its latest projects involves the construction of a mega solar station on the roofs of Lisbon’s trade fairs and exhibitions site, Feira Internacional de Lisboa (FIL), no Parque das Nações.

“This is a 5 megawatts-peak (MWp) that will not just benefit FIL which will use one-third of the power produced for around 40% of it power needs; the other two-thirds of production will be shared with over 5,000 ‘neighbours’ within a four kilometre radius according to Vera Pinto Pereira, an EDP director.

“We are talking about the installation of the largest solar community in Portugal and, possibly, from what we know to date, the largest on the Iberian Peninsula,” said the also president of EDP Comercial, referring to the project in partnership with the AIP Foundation Group that should be injecting energy into the grid in 2026.

Vera Pinto Pereira told business daily Negócios that the project marked “an essential step in solar neighbourhoods, one of the most important energy transition measures in our country, which makes it possible to bring the energy transition to those who have the coverage to be able to benefit from auto-consumption” – meaning, a property where solar panels can be installed.

The EDP Commercial president said that in order to meet targets in Portugal of 2.5GW of installed energy by 2030, “each step taken makes a very important contribution”.