The solar farm has been developed by Aura Power with the construction of the grid works scheduled to begin in mid February by EDP Comercial. Aura Power’s joint venture partner, ib vogt will then begin construction of the solar farm in May. 

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The solar farm is located 120 km north of Lisbon and 6 km to the south of the city of Leiria. It lies adjacent to the EREDES(DNO) Azoia substation where it will connect directly into, at the 60KV voltage level.

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With an energy generation of 44GWh per year, the solar farm will provide enough clean electricity to power over 13,500 homes, preventing the emissions of over 9,000 tonnes of CO2 entering the atmosphere each year. 

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Ben Moore, COO of Aura Power said “We are really pleased to announce the construction of this project which is the first Utility Scale PV farm in Portugal to be developed organically and constructed all the way to COD by a British company. It is the first of many that we are bringing through our pipeline all the way to COD and we are proud to be able to help contribute towards Portugal’s commendable 2026 and 2050 net zero targets”. 

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Portugal has an ambitious target to reach 80% clean electricity production by 2026, four years earlier than previously planned.

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Jorge Fernandes, Country Manager at Aura Power said “This Project is of special importance to Aura Power given that it marks our first Project where our team will manage, in full, the Construction all the way to COD. We first began securing the land for this Project in March 2018 demonstrating our  commitment early on to this part of Portugal. The Project is a complex one given its location and fragmented nature of the land used, so it is with great satisfaction to reach the construction phase.” 

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Construction is expected to be completed in Q4 this year with energization expected shortly after. 

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Aura Power has over 20GW of solar and battery energy storage projects in development across Europe and North America.