Iberdrola produces 1st power at pumped hydro giga battery plant in Portugal

January 28 (Renewables Now) - Spanish utility Iberdrola SA (BME:IBE) said on Friday that it has connected the first power generation unit at its Tamega hydroelectric and pumped storage complex in northern Portugal.

The mega-station consists of three reservoirs on the Tamega river, Gouvaes, Daivoes and Alto Tamega, and their namesake power plants with a combined capacity of 1,158 MW. Its pumped hydro battery has 880 MW of storage capacity, Iberdrola said.

The utility company invested more than EUR 1.5 billion (USD 1.67bn) in the project.

In Friday’s update, Iberdrola says the Gouvaes and Daivoes plants have been completed after eight years of construction works. All of the generating units are currently undergoing commissioning tests. A 220-MW turbine at the Gouvaes hydroelectric plant has been synchronised and is delivering power to the grid for the first time, the company said.

The Gouvaes and Daivoes plants will be fully operational in mid-2022, while the commissioning of Alto Tamega is scheduled for 2024.

The whole Tamega complex will be capable of generating some 1,766 GWh per year, which would be enough to power 440,000 households. The giga battery will have enough storage capacity to supply two million Portuguese households for an entire day, according to Iberdrola.

Iberdrola currently has 4,500 MW of pumped storage installed, excluding Tamega, it says.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.114)