Q CELLS has secured the rights to connect 315 MW of new solar and storage capacity in Portugal’s second solar auction.
Q CELLS won half of the 12 available lots in the bidding phase of the latest auction that took place. A total capacity of 700 MW was tendered, and companies in Portugal were invited to lodge bids with a storage component included for the first time.
Each of the six solar systems that Q CELLS is designing, building and connecting to Portugal’s electricity grid will combine solar with storage. All these projects will be constructed in the Alentejo region of Portugal, with two 109 MW and 99 MW power arrays in Ourique, respectively; a 50 MW project in Ferreira do Alentejo; and three 19 MW projects in Beja, Vale do Gaio, and Porteirinhos.
The grid link of all six projects is expected to be completed by June 2024, with Q CELLS developing the projects within the auction deadlines set by the Portuguese Government.
Q CELLS obtained the grid capacity in exchange for paying the Portuguese national grid operator a fixed annual price-per-capacity for 15 years. Thanks to the versatility provided by combining solar with storage, Q CELLS will be able to sell solar-generated electricity to retailers, conduct energy arbitration by shifting time, and engage in ancillary services markets to make the most of these ventures, thus contributing to local grid stability.
Having secured this extra 315 MW of new solar capacity in Portugal, Q CELLS now boasts a nearly 2 GW production pipeline in the country. In the north of Portugal, Q CELLS has already begun construction on an 11.6 MW solar plant, and will be introducing additional tranches of its vast solar pipeline over the coming months.
“Q CELLS is delighted to have secured the rights to develop 315 MW of solar+storage capacity under the latest Portuguese auction. As a company, we have nurtured a great deal of expertise in Portugal’s solar energy landscape, and have built up a pipeline of almost 2 GW. We approached this second auction with a confident mindset based on the benefit of being a global, bankable clean energy company with a solar DNA and long-standing expertise and experience in storage as well. Portugal’s bold renewable energy ambitions match our own, and we are excited to get to work on spreading the Q CELLS footprint throughout Portugal, and indeed Iberia as a whole.”
Sang Chull Chung, head of downstream business unit for Q CELLS
