Ventinveste, a consortium of selected energy and engineering companies from Portugal, has made agreement with energy company Ferrostaal for building four wind farms in Portugal for €220 million ($296 million approx).
The venture is known as project Ancora and is expected to produce approximately 1716 MW in a combined capacity.
The farms will have a total 84 wind energy turbines, produced in Oliveira de Frades and in Vagos, in Northern Portugal. Construction will begin from the 4th quarter of the year and the connection to the grid will mostly take place from mid 2015 to mid 2016.
The tariff for generated wind is fixed at €68/MWh, the lowest wind tariffs in the country. According to ERSE, the country’s energy markets regulator, average wind tariff in Portugal is €93/MWh and this lowest rate will be a challenge to promoters.
Ventinveste consortium members who are behind the execution of this project are Galp Energia, Martifer, Efacec and Senvion and Ferrostaal. Ferrostaal Capital, a renewable energy asset management expert, has advised Ferrostaal to hold a 50 percent share in the project.
Renewable energy in Portugal was the source for 58.3 percent of the country’s electricity generation in 2013. In 2001, the Portuguese government launched a new energy policy instrument – the E4 Program (Energy Efficiency and Endogenous Energies), consisting of a set of measures aimed at promoting an integrated approach to energy supply and demand.