Spanish energy utility Iberdrola has officially opened the Tamega Gigabattery hydroelectric energy storage project in Portugal. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Iberdrola Chairman Ignacio Garland and other officials attended the inauguration. It houses the Alto Tamega, Daivoes and Gouvae power plants with a storage capacity of 40 million kWh, enough to meet the 24-hour domestic energy needs of 11 million people. The launch of the Tamega Gigabattery project is expected to help reduce annual oil imports and eliminate 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

In a statement, Iberdrola said the major engineering project involving thousands of people will prevent the import of more than 160,000 tons of oil a year, cementing its position as a socio-economic and job-creation driver in the region. The construction of the project is accompanied by a number of social, cultural and environmental initiatives that benefit the seven cities.

At the event, Galan reiterated Iberdrola's commitment to Portugal and said the company would double its investment in gigabit batteries to €3 billion over the next few years. This will invest in new wind farms and solar plants already under development or construction.

Garland also said that the Tamega Gigabattery project showed that the EU's energy independence and decarbonization goals are fully compatible as long as efforts are made to electrify the economy and production systems. Neoenergia, a subsidiary of Iberdrola, has won two bids in a transmission line auction in Brazil. Keywords: engineering news, overseas news

One of the projects involves the installation of 1,707 kilometers of transmission lines between Minas Gerais and São Paulo, while the other will provide 291 kilometers of transmission lines in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The two projects, with a total investment of about $1.02 billion, will create more than 11,000 jobs during construction.Editor/XingWentao