The Alta da Coutada wind farm has been equipped with state-of-the-art wind turbines, increasing its installed capacity to 187 MW, further accelerating the country’s energy transition. Already EDP Renewables’ largest project in Portugal, it will now be able to supply enough clean energy to power 130,000 homes.
Six state-of-the-art wind turbines are already operational at the Alta da Coutada wind farm, and are set to boost annual output by 12% at EDP Renewables’ Serra da Padrela wind farm complex, located in the municipalities of Vila Pouca de Aguiar and Valpaços, in the Vila Real district.
170,000 fewer tonnes of C02 each year
It is estimated that the complex will generate over 420 GWh of renewable energy per year, enough to supply around 130,000 homes with carbon-free electricity. The new turbines will generate the equivalent of the energy required by 15,000 average households. The project is expected to prevent 170,000 tonnes of CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere every year.
The wind farm began operating in 2010 and initially comprised 72 turbines with an installed capacity of 165.6 MW, making it already one of the largest wind farms in operation in Portugal. With the recent over-equipment, six additional machines with a total additional capacity of 21.6 MW will come on stream, further contributing to the production of renewable energy on site and to the country’s energy transition. At the end of 2022, EDP Renewables added further wind turbines to the Barão de São João wind farm in the Algarve, using two of the largest and most powerful turbines on the Iberian peninsula for this expansion. The company has already completed similar expansions at 11 wind farms in Portugal, and plans to continue exploring ways to add more renewable capacity to its operational projects.
EDPR is currently evaluating the possibility of hybridizing the Alta da Coutada wind farm, integrating photovoltaic generation into the complex, as it did at the Mosteiro wind farm in the Guarda district at the end of 2022, creating the first renewable hybrid farm on the Iberian peninsula.
