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.