- Newcon Energy® (NE) secures 38 percent of total grid capacity in EDP tender
- 10 projects with a total capacity of almost 500 MW from NE in the final ranking list
Newcon Energy Portugal Lda. was able to secure 38 percent of the total capacity in the tender of Portuguese energy group and grid operator Energias de Portugal (EDP), more than any other company. A total of 10 Newcon Energy® projects with a total capacity of almost 500 MW were included in the final list of projects, which will now receive a bid from EDP in the next step to create the required grid capacity.
The capacity reservation for the feed-in of the planned electricity from renewable sources covers seven connection stations, which are distributed over a radius of about 120 km across central and southern Portugal.
Projects had to be submitted by July 28, 2020. EDP used a guide (Termos de Referencia) and predefined evaluation criteria to assess which projects met the requirements. In 2020, a total of 53 projects with a total capacity of 1.3 GW were selected, distributed among 26 project developers.
The tender is based on Decree-Law 172/2006 of 23/08/2006 extended at Decree-Law 76/2019 of 03/06/2019, which provides for participation in the creation of network capacity. In this regard, two tenders were carried out divided according to the size of the PV projects. The grid operator EDP awards grid connection capacities for projects up to 50MW and the grid operator REN for projects above 50MW.
The Portuguese tender model provides that the project developers participate in the costs of capacity creation. After the selection of the final projects, the project developers receive an offer for the creation of the required grid capacity, which includes the price, the construction time, as well as the technical details.