Technological free zone delimited for ocean-based renewable energy

Through Ordinance 298/2023 of October 4, the Portuguese Government approved the delimitation of the technological free zone (“TFZ”) off the coast of Viana do Castelo for renewable energy from an ocean source or location. Its goal is to establish innovation and development projects that create electricity from renewable energy from an ocean source or location. It spans an area of 7.63 km2 and is located near WindFloat Atlantic, Europe’s first floating wind farm.

The TFZ underwent a public consultation process and was delimited based on a proposal by the Directorate-General for Natural Resources, Safety and Maritime Services (DGRM) and the Portuguese National Laboratory of Energy and Geology (LNEG), in collaboration with the Portuguese National Transmission Grid operator.

The TFZ is part of the Portuguese Government’s initiative to encourage the offshore development of renewable technology, with the goal of reaching an installed capacity of 10GW of offshore wind power by 2030. In addition, Decree-Law 15/2022 created two more TFZs. One encompasses the Pego Thermoelectric Plant area, which aims to promote innovation and development projects for the production, storage and self-consumption of electricity from renewable energy. The other covers the Mira Irrigation Perimeter, which is designed for land use compatible with both agriculture and electricity generation.

A consultation phase with potential stakeholders is expected to start in October as part of the auction already announced by the Portuguese Government. The pre-qualification phase is set to launch at the year-end or in early 2024.