Wind Energy – Portugal
Portugal plans to hold its first auction for floating offshore farms this summer.
“We hope to be able to produce between 3 and 4 gigawatts (GW) of power in 2026,” Environment and Energy Transition minister Joao Matos Fernandes told Reuters.
As part of a global shift away from carbon-emitting fossil fuels, countries are betting on new technologies to boost power generation from renewable energies such as wind and solar.
Floating wind technology, seen as the final frontier in the offshore wind industry, is gaining traction in countries such as Britain, France and parts of south-east Asia.
While it is expected to be more efficient than fixed-bottom offshore wind turbines, there is no commercial-scale project yet in operation and costs are expected to remain high this decade.