Portugal – The Tâmega Gigabattery was officially opened in Portugal by António Costa, the Prime Minister of Portugal, and Ignacio Galán, the Chairman of Iberdrola.
The Tâmega Gigabattery is a sizable hydroelectric storage project that took nearly eight years to build and cost more than €1.5 billion. One of the biggest energy storage systems in Europe, the Tâmega electrical power production system has a capacity of 1,158 MW and can store 40 million kWh, which is equal to the energy used by 11 million people in their homes for a full day.
The complex, which consists of the power plants Alto Tâmega, Daives, and Gouves, can store energy for later use. This significant engineering undertaking, on which thousands of people have worked, will stop the importation of more than 160,000 tonnes of oil annually, solidifying its position as the region’s economic and job-creating engine.
Doubling investments
As Ignacio Galán noted, the development of this sizable complex was made possible by the recent achievement by the Portuguese government of a climate of legal stability and positive communication. This infrastructure also shows that, as long as work is done to electrify the economic and production system, the two main objectives of Europe’s energy policy, energy independence and decarbonization, are perfectly compatible.
Ignacio Galán also disclosed during his speech that the company will be able to double the investments made in the Gigabattery over the following years, reaching €3 billion. This money will go toward brand-new wind farms and solar power plants that are already in the planning or construction stages.
