Portugal picks four areas for offshore wind farms, prepares auction

Baywa AG

10/01/2025 10:25

By Sergio Goncalves
       LISBON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Portugal's government has
approved four areas in the Atlantic Ocean where offshore wind
farms can be installed, moving a step closer to launching the
first licensing auction of offshore  capacity, which it plans
this year.
    Two of the areas are off the coast of Viana do Castelo in
northern Portugal, one near the port of Leixoes also in the
north, and another off Figueira da Foz in the central region.
    These areas "have the best natural conditions for the
installation of parks for the production of ocean-based energy",
the government said in a statement late on Thursday.
    "(They) will allow to meet the government's target of
installing a capacity of 2 GW by 2030 ... contributing to
national energy independence," it said.
    The government wants to launch the first auction of licences
to build offshore wind farms this year, but has yet to decide
the exact timing, total capacity on offer and other conditions.
    Portugal already has a small, 25 MW floating wind project
off Viana do Castelo that is owned by Ocean Winds, a joint
venture between Portugal's main utility EDP  EDP.LS  and French
company Engie  ENGIE.PA .
    A number of other utilities have shown potential interest in
the auction, including Germany's BayWa  BYWGnx.DE , the
Irish-Spanish consortium IberBlue Wind, fund manager Copenhagen
Infrastructure Partners, and a joint venture between Portugal's
Galp  GALP.LS  and France's TotalEnergies  TTEF.PA .
    The floating wind farms will be installed in deep waters
where winds are stronger and more continuous, allowing the
generation of more power than those fixed to the seabed near to
shore or those on land.

 (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves
Editing by Frances Kerry)
 ((sergio.goncalves@thomsonreuters.com; +351213509204;))