The public consultation of the proposal that creates five areas for the exploitation of renewable energies in the sea, off Viana do Castelo, Leixões, Figueira da Foz, Ericeira-Cascais and Sines, began this Monday and ends in mid-March.
The public hearing period, according to the Government order of this Friday, is 30 (business) days, and is intended for the formulation of “suggestions and collection of contributions” on the preliminary proposal of the specialized areas for planning and implementation working. of power plants based on renewable energy sources of oceanic origin or location.
“Due to the characteristics of the Portuguese sea, which reaches great depths a few miles from the coast, associated with geographical areas where wind and wave resources are more favorable, a set of areas where the Wind energy will be a source of electricity generation.“, stands out in the document.
This energy will come from electric generators mounted under floating structures and anchored to the seabed or to fixed structures on the seabed “when possible”, complemented with electric generators driven by wave energy, according to the draft, available on the General Directorate website Environment, Resources, Safety and Maritime Services.
Figueira da Foz is proposed as the largest area for the installation of wind farms, with 1,237 square kilometers (km2) and a potential of up to four gigawatts of capacity, followed by Viana do Castelo (663km2 and 2GW), Sines (499km2 and 1, 5GW) and Ericeira and Sintra/Cascais (300 km2 and 1GW).
“Taking into account the power ratios per km2 accepted by the industry, areas with adequate dimensions are proposed for commercial renewable energy projects in the National Maritime Space off Viana do Castelo (extension of the existing area), off the coast of Leixões, Figueira da Foz, Ericeira and Sintra-Cascais, and Sines, which, as a whole, intend to achieve the power goal of 10 gigawatts in the long term,” the document reads.
The proposal under consultation also defines the areas of energy injection points in the national interconnected system along the coast, noting that such definition is still “in a very preliminary way.”
In addition to the contributions from citizens, organizations, entities or municipalities, which the executive expects to receive during this public consultation period, it also awaits the contributions of the working group that it created in September, with the mission of presenting, before May 31 , a report “with contributions and recommendations” that respond to the objectives set by the executive.
The Government has assumed the ambition of reaching an installed wind power offshore of 10 GW in 2030, to be awarded by auction.
Source: Observadora
