French energy firm Akuo is making a considerable commitment to Portugal’s renewable energy sector, announcing a €1 billion investment to build 1 gigawatt of new capacity by 2032. The move underscores Portugal’s growing appeal as a hub for green energy advancement, particularly following a period of sector change post-2020.While navigating regulatory hurdles – including a current project suspension due to legal challenges from the Public Prosecutor’s Office – Akuo intends to leverage its expertise in solar, wind, and battery storage to contribute to the country’s sustainability goals.
French energy firm Akuo has secured its first solar energy auction win in Portugal, with plans to invest €1 billion to build 1 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity by 2032. The win marks a significant step for the company as it expands its footprint in the burgeoning Portuguese renewable energy market.
The Portuguese energy sector has undergone substantial change since 2020, navigating uncertainties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Akuo first entered the market in 2019, successfully bidding on three lots totaling 370 MW of solar power capacity.
Since then, the company has seen a change in ownership with the investment firm Ardian taking a stake, and a new CEO, Bruno Bensasson, has been appointed. Bensasson brings extensive experience from French state-owned energy giant EDF, where he led the renewables unit, and Danish wind turbine component manufacturer Vestas.
Akuo’s ambitious investment plan encompasses solar, wind, and battery storage projects. “We strongly believe in the potential of solar, wind and batteries in Portugal,” Bensasson told journalists during a visit to Lisbon.
“We also consider it important to have local acceptance of projects. We try to build the projects on schedule, but sometimes there are delays due to litigation, which we respect. Some processes have taken longer than expected; we don’t live in an ideal world,” he added.
Bensasson highlighted Portugal’s favorable environment for renewable energy development. “Portugal has a good environment for renewables, solar and wind. We can always complain that there are things that could be improved. As global investors, when we compare, this market has important characteristics.”
Regarding Ardian’s investment, he noted, “We look at the long-term profitability of an asset. There isn’t a big difference between having a profitable asset for an investor and an efficient investment for the country.”
Addressing the issue of negative electricity prices, driven by high solar energy output during periods of low demand, Bensasson believes that the integration of battery storage “will help” as it provides “a natural complement to renewables.”
Akuo currently operates the 180 MW Santas solar plant in Monforte and is constructing a 45 MW wind farm to hybridize the project, bringing the total capacity to 225 MW.
The company aims to complete the 147 MW Margalha plant in Gavião by the end of the year, with operations expected to begin in the first quarter of 2026. Akuo has also secured public funding for battery projects at both the Santas and Margalha sites.
The company is also involved in an agrivoltaic project in Alcobaça, funded by Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), which combines solar panel installations with apple orchards.
Akuo successfully completed a crowdfunding campaign for the Santas plant, raising the targeted amount of €5 million.
However, the Polvorão project, located in Gavião and Nisa, is currently suspended pending a ruling from the Administrative and Tax Court of Castelo Branco after the Public Prosecutor’s Office challenged the project’s licensing in February of this year.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office is contesting the licenses issued by the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology (DGEG), and the local municipality. “We are confident that everything was done within the rules,” according to João Macedo.
In February, the Public Prosecutor’s Office announced its challenge to the environmental, energy, and urban licensing of the plant, citing “damage to a wide range of territorial management instruments and protection of natural resources, with particular emphasis on the legal regime of the Natura Network, the Alentejo Spatial Planning Program, and the Municipal Master Plans of the municipalities of Gavião and Nisa.”
“The extensive territorial implementation of undertakings for energy production and the consequent alteration of land use qualified as forestry, agricultural and even natural and landscape, when contrary to what is legally foreseen, deserves special attention from the MP, by virtue of the powers in the matter of defense of the ordering and environment, conferred within the scope of administrative litigation, where the present action is framed,” according to a statement released by the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the time.
