EDP REPOWERING II

The project concerns the re-powering of 2 existing pumped storage hydropower plants, the Alqueva plant on the Guadiana River, in the Southeast of Portugal and the Venda Nova plant on the Cávado River in the North of Portugal.

The proposed project aims at increasing the promoter’s hydropower peaking capacity and its ability to supply ancillary services. Both plants will generate energy during peak hours and their installed capacity can be used as fast secondary reserve. These projects also contribute to the sustained growth of the wind energy in the national electricity system.

An EIA is required for both plants. For the Alqueva plant, the EIA has been finalized and an environmental permit has been issued. For the Venda Nova plant, the EIA process is ongoing. At this stage, the promoter has provided the Bank with a copy of the Non Technical Summaries for both plants and the Environmental Permit for the Alqueva plant. The permit approves the project, conditional on the implementation of the mitigation measures and the environmental monitoring plan identified in the EIA. Both projects being re-powering projects, the main impacts are limited to the construction period with some permanent impact expected on the landscape due to the presence of new buildings, some rock debris deposits and new transmission lines.

In line with the Bank's guidelines, details of the environmental impact assessment, including adequacy of proposed mitigation, compensation and environmental monitoring will be analysed during appraisal, as well as the promoter's capacity and procedures to ensure compliance with environmental and biodiversity regulations.

The promoter has confirmed to comply with the EU procurement Directives, including publication in the Official Journal. Details of the procedures applied by the promoter will be reviewed during the appraisal.