The Proposal for the Definition of Scope (PDA) of the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) of the Sol de Évora Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant project is in public consultation on the Participa portal of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) until 24 March.

According to the PDA, consulted by Lusa agency on the Participa portal, the project is promoted by Newcon40 Unipessoal Lda, based in Lisbon, and is the result of a request for an agreement submitted to the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology (DGEG) in 2019. “In July 2021, the project was ranked 11th in the ranking of requests for agreements with the network operator, with the injection capacity planned for 2029/2030 having been guaranteed through the agreement signed with REN in September 2023”, said the document.

The future plant, the PDA says, will have 800,100 photovoltaic modules, and is expected to produce “about 848.5 GWh [gigawatt-hours] annually” and avoid “the emission of 176,488 tons” of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year.

According to the document, the project will consist of a photovoltaic plant, a storage system, two voltage-boosting substations and small sections of high and very high-voltage power lines.

The plant will deliver energy to the Public Service Electricity Grid, through the Divor substation, owned by the company Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), and any excess energy produced will be stored in a system made up of 48 containers.

The document, in which the investment is not indicated, reveals that the installation of this photovoltaic solar plant will take two years and that its useful life is 30 years.

It is admitted that, during the exploration phase, there will be impacts associated with the presence and operation of the plant, such as the “degradation of the visual quality of the landscape”, among others, noting that measures will be considered to “minimize the visual impact of the project as much as possible”.

This is the third solar photovoltaic plant project planned for this territory located in the municipalities of Évora and Arraiolos and joins those promoted by the companies Hyperion Renewables Évora and IncognitWorld 3. These two projects are being contested by a civic platform, which claims that they will cause “irreversible damage” to the landscape and the lives of residents and tourism agents.