News

Portugal’s Alqueva 50 MW Floating PV tender open for proposals

EDIA started the request for qualification stage for a solar tender that will support 4 floating photovoltaic plants, totalling 52MWp, in reservoirs integrated in the Alqueva irrigation system, creating Europe’s largest floating photovoltaic project, occupying over 42hectares and using over 100,000 solar panels.

The tender seeks companies or consortia for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) as well as operation and maintenance (O&M) for a 3 year period, at a maximum price of 45M€.

This first phase of the tender will be used to select companies or consortia with proven experience in floating photovoltaic technologies, in terms of design, construction and operation of large plants, in addition to other technical requirements and financial capacity. Proposals must be submitted on the public procurement platform (https://community.vortal.biz/sts/Login) until 11th january 2024. All documents that constitute the proposal must be written in Portuguese.
Subsequently, qualified entities will be invited to present proposals, with the evaluation criteria considering the price, technical performance and extended warranties of the proposed equipment.

THE COMPANY
EDIA – Empresa de Desenvolvimento e Infra-estruturas do Alqueva, S.A., is a public company owned exclusively by the portuguese state, and is fully staffed to design, operate, manage, maintain and promote the Alqueva Multipurpose Project.

THE ALQUEVA PROJECT
Located in Alentejo, in the south of Portugal, Alqueva is a multiple purposes project, where the Alqueva dam, built on the international Guadiana river, is the water source for a system made up of a total of 72 reservoirs and with a water distribution network longer than 2200 km.
Centered on the Alqueva reservoir, Europe’s largest man-made strategic water reserve, with a total capacity of 4,15 billion cubic meters, the Alqueva Multipurpose Project has a size, scope and modernity of infrastructure that currently allows it to irrigate an area of 150,000 hectares, produce hydroelectric energy with pump-storage, enabling total complementarity with photovoltaic plants, public and industrial supply, preservation of the environment and heritage, territorial planning and the development of tourist activities.

EDIA promotes Case Study within the scope of the MERLIN Project

MERLIN is a European Project that promotes nature-based solutions (NbS) as a main method to tackle current social issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss and other challenges addressed by the European Green Deal.

With a total of 18 case studies, in 15 European countries, EDIA is responsible for the Case Study 18 (CS 18), relating to the Ervidel Floodpalin, which comprises the implementation of ecological restoration interventions of a “Xacafre” segment stream and respective floodplain, and also with the plan to install flower meadow areas and shelters for the pollinators reproduction as a measure to promote biodiversity.

The Case Study 18, to be developed in a stream of “Ervidel” Irrigation Perimeter, integrated in the Alqueva Multi-Purpose Development, was identified as a Twinning Case Study of “Sorraia” Case Study 13. The CS18 having been approved by the European Commission, following an application submitted by the Institute Agriculture School (ISA), with EDIA as the partner of the implementation project.

The restoration interventions fall into three fundamental tasks:
   1. Ecological Restoration of the riparian gallery of a stream segment (also known as Vale de Água/Pero Bonito stream), through the implementation of measures with different types of intervention, namely cleaning (pruning, cleaning, unblocking and desilting); planting indigenous riparian tree and shrub species; implementation of techniques using natural engineering and maintenance actions;
   2. Sowing a flowering meadow, with a mixture of native herbaceous species for pollen production, in an area of approximately 1 hectare;
   3. Installation of pollinators hotels – with the aim to creating shelters for pollinator reproduction.

The 18 case studies cover a sectors variety, including Agriculture; Water Supply; Hydroelectric; Navigation; and Peat Extraction, and are distributed across 15 European countries, and there are countries with more than 1 case study, such as Portugal, which presents 3 Case Studies (CS) – CS 12 Lima Catchment; CS13 Sorraia Floodplain and the EDIA Case Study – CS18 Ervidel Floodplain.

The Project “MERLIN–Mainstreaming Ecological Restoration of freshwater-related ecosystems in a Landscape context: Innovation, upscaling and transformation “ is co-financed by the H2020-IA (Innovation Action) program, coordinated by the Druuisberg-Essen University in Germany, with the “Instituto Superior de Agronomia”(ISA) as Scientific Partner.

» Ficha do Projeto do  MERLIN – CS18 Ervidel Floodplain

» Mais informação sobre o Projeto MERLIN AQUI

Navigation in Alqueva

On this page you can access the navigation signaling in the Alqueva Reservoir through Google Maps.

This feature pretends to facilitate navigation, as it allows users to know exactly their location in the Alqueva Reservoir, as well as the original location of all navigation buoys and axes.

To learn more click HERE

Alqueva Beyond Water

Alqueva, beyond water, its a region with sun, land and people, full of life, nature and history.

Beyond the water that manages, EDIA is responsible for the sustainable development of Alqueva Territory.

EDIA cooperates with the banking sector

EDIA, aware of the importance of financing in ensuring the full exploitation of the opportunities and potential of the agricultural and agroindustry sectors in Alqueva, entered into a cooperation agreement with several banks.

The aim of this agreement is to encourage the financing of competitive and sustainable investment projects intended to be established within the Alqueva irrigation perimeters.

Alqueva in the Center of the Future

Welcome to Alqueva. Discover the region in southern Portugal where a fresh new land can be found, where ideas and opportunities are even fresher so that new businesses produce new fruit.

Alqueva is a project of EDIA – Empresa de Desenvolvimento e Infra-estruturas do Alqueva – which pretend to ensure the sustainable development of the region through agriculture.

The future of the region is prepared every day in Alqueva, making it more attractive to domestic and foreign investors, refining what it offers and generating development from its greatest natural asset: water.

The Land Exchange of Alqueva

EDIA is the Operational Manager of the National Land Exchange, GEOP entity, an instrument of the Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture, which has the purpose of facilitating the offer and demand of the land, making available in only one place information about land with agricultural potential to lease, sale or to other type of transaction.

EDIA is the GEOP entity on the territorial area of the municipalities of Aljustrel, Alvito, Barrancos, Beja, Cuba, Ferreira do Alentejo, Mértola, Moura, Serpa and Vidigueira, in the district of Beja; Alandroal, Évora, Mourão, Portel, Reguengos de Monsaraz and Viana do Alentejo, in the district of Évora and Alcácer do Sal, Grândola and Santiago do Cacém, in the district of Setúbal.

Land owners and interested investors may contact EDIA in order to get technical support with the purpose of providing their land on the Land Exchange, as well as getting or knowing opportunities that exist in the region.