LISBON, May 28 (Reuters) - Solar power developer Lightsource
BP has partnered with Portuguese firm Insun to build five
large-scale solar plants in Portugal with a total capacity of
1.35 Gigawatts, envisaging an investment of 900 million euros
($1.10 billion) over the next six years.
London-based Lightsource BP, which is half-owned by oil
major BP, said in a statement on Friday the projects in
the regions of Moura, Castelo Branco, Mogadouro, Chamusca and
Viseu were in an initial development phase. Once operational,
they will be onstream for 30 years.
The partnership agreement was signed with the Portuguese
firm Insun.
"Solar energy is very well positioned so that Portugal can
meet plans for rapid expansion in the growth of its local
capacity for renewable energy generation, since it has excellent
levels of irradiation, it is fast to implement and has low
costs," Lightsource BP Portugal head Miguel Lobo said.
In a statement, he said that "if Portugal is efficient in
quickly adding new solar generation capacity, it will allow
decarbonisation to accelerate and contribute more quickly to a
decrease in electricity prices".
The company said that in just two years after entering the
Iberian market, it has already increased its solar development
pipeline to more than 2 Gigawatts in Spain.
Lightsource BP said it is also exploring opportunities in
the area of green hydrogen.
($1 = 0.8207 euros)
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves, editing by Louise Heavens)