POWER December 2013 - 24

TOP PLANTS
Alqueva II Pumped Storage
Hydropower Plant,
Alqueva, Portugal
Owner/operator: Energias de Portugal
Courtesy: Alstom
European Union carbon emission limitations and a lack of indigenous fossil fuel
resources pushed Portugal in 2000 to embrace renewable energy. Today, Portugal
supplies over 50% of its annual electricity demand from renewable resources, an
increase of over 25% in the past five years alone. Leading Portugal's renewable
energy transformation is Alqueva II, a new pumped storage hydropower plant that
supplies baseload electricity and backstops the large amount of variable wind generation
in the south.
Dr. Robert Peltier, PE
S
unny Portugal enjoys a climate much
like that of Southern California and
likewise has considerable wind resources.
Unlike California, Portugal has
virtually no indigenous fossil fuel resources
(some coal, but no gas or oil), which has
pressed the country to rapidly develop its
wealth of renewable resources.
Portugal's success in converting an economy
largely based on imported fossil fuels for
electricity production to one based on renewable
energy resources has been remarkable. In
2006, for example, fossil-fueled plants produced
two-thirds of the country's electricity
consumption (~38% using imported oil and
natural gas). Today, more than half its energy
comes from wind, solar, and hydropower, having
constructed the world's largest solar farm,
Europe's largest wind farm and an extensive
network of hydroelectric facilities.
24
In the Beginning
Portugal's push for renewables began in 2000
when the government purchased all the utilityowned
transmission lines and formed a publically
owned and traded company to operate
the system. The purpose of this very controversial
move was to encourage capital investment
in upgrades and investment in smart grid
technologies, a precursor to integrating renewables
onto the grid. The plan also included a
national system of electric car charging stations.
Since the acquisition, over $600 million
has been invested in grid upgrades.
Unfortunately, the country's economic
malaise, punctuated by an International Monetary
Fund and European Union bailout in
May 2011 that required drastic public spending
cuts, has undercut the rate of renewable
expansion in Portugal. The reduction in energy
consumption (averaging -6% per year for
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the past three years but down only 0.4% in
the first quarter of 2013) during the economic
downturn, combined with favorable weather
conditions for hydroelectric power, resulted
in Portugal's renewable energy plants supplying
70% of total consumption in the first
quarter of 2013, according the Portuguese
grid operator. For a few hours in late 2011,
the country's entire electricity demand was
provided by renewable electricity.
The Alqueva hydropower plant is part of the
government's program of exploiting the country's
sizable renewable hydropower potential.
By 2020, the government plans to construct 10
new dams with hydropower plants under the
National Programme of Dams with High Hydropower
Potential. Portugal's official goal is to
produce 60% of its annual electricity demand by
2020 with renewable energy. The hydropower
capacity portion of the goal is 7,000 MW.
POWER | December 2013
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POWER December 2013

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