EDP drops the "Grande Lago" floating solar mega-plant on the Alqueva reservoir

In 2022, EDP Renováveis won the largest lot in Portugal's national floating solar auction, securing the right to install 70 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity on the Alqueva reservoir, bidding a negative price of €4 per megawatt-hour. The project, named "Grande Lago", envisaged a hybrid plant of up to 154 MW — combining floating panels, additional solar capacity and a wind farm — across an area that would have covered 250 hectares of the reservoir's surface, spanning the municipalities of Moura, Portel and Reguengos de Monsaraz.

In November 2025, the mayors of Moura, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portel, Alandroal and Mourão met with the Minister of Environment and Energy to oppose the project, warning that a reservoir "packed with solar panels" would harm tourism and navigability in the region and bring "no added value" to the municipalities involved.

On 6 August 2026, EDP announced it was dropping the project, citing profitability concerns after the Portuguese Environment Agency rejected the environmental impact study, notably over the impact of the grid connection line on birds of prey habitats. The case adds to a string of floating solar projects rejected on environmental grounds in Portuguese reservoirs since the 2022 auction.