EDP will install new solar park in Ribatejo Power and Energy

The power plant will install at Ribatejo, at the Exide plant, its largest solar park with the "pioneer" component of energy storage, said Vera Pinto Pereira, EDP administrator. The project, which will have 10,000 solar panels, starts in 2020.
AEDP will install in Ribatejo a solar park with a capacity of 3.8 megawatts-peak (MWp), a production that would be sufficient to supply two thousand houses per year. The project will be installed in the Exide plant for self-consumption of this unit and will have the "pioneering energy storage" component, Vera Pinto Pereira, EDP Comercial's chief executive, told Business. "This is the largest EDP Comercial facility," said the executive's managing director. The only project that EDP has with larger dimensions (5MWp) is located in Brazil.

The EDP executive manager, Vera Pinto Pereira, admits to expand the solution that will install in Ribatejo to other parts of the country.

The solar park will be composed of two power plants located in Azambuja and Castanheira do Ribatejo, where the Exide plant, a battery producer, is installed. In total, it will have 20 thousand square meters and will count with the installation of 10 thousand solar panels. And it should be ready to start producing and storing energy in the first quarter of next year, said Vera Pinto Pereira.

The energy produced in this park "will be consumed by the Exile plant itself and stored when it is in surplus," the manager explained. "For example, in summer when the plant is not producing at its peak, the energy the park generates can be stored for later consumption", but it can also be "injected into the grid" if necessary.

Regarding the business model, the administrator began by explaining that the project is part of EDP's "most comprehensive strategy of solutions", namely to store energy.

In practice, the project will work as a test for both EDP and Exide for future investments. "A whole new chapter opens with this project," commented the manager, admitting the expansion of similar investments in Portugal, and beyond. "In Portugal we have 190 photovoltaic installations in the business segment, with a total of 22 MW. But none with the storage component

For Exide, present in 80 countries, it will also work as a pilot, according to Vera Pinto Pereira, if it works as expected the company can replicate the projects in other markets. With EDP? "In the countries where we are present it may happen," said the administrator, noting that although EDP is responsible for the installation, there is no exclusivity in the provision of energy services. That is, Exide can hire electricity from third parties.