March 28 (Renewables Now) - Spanish utility Endesa SA (BME:ELE) has won rights to build and connect a renewable energy mega-complex at a 224-MVA connection in Pego, central Portugal, that was once used by its now closed 628-MW Pego coal-fired power plant.

The utility secured the rights in a public tender, and said on Friday that will use the connection point to hook a hybrid complex consisting of a 365-MWp solar farm and a 264-MW wind farm with a battery energy storage system (BESS) of 168.6 MW, and a 500-kW electrolyser to produce green hydrogen. The electrolyser will use the power surplus that cannot be managed by the BESS, Endesa said.

The Spanish company will invest EUR 600 million (USD 658m) in the project without relying on any subsidies, and create 75 direct jobs. It said that it has already designed a programme to train the Pego plant’s workers and area’s residents on how to build renewables and develop digital and other skills.

Endesa operated the Pego plant alongside TrustEnergy, a 50/50 joint venture between France’s Engie SA (EPA:ENGI) and Japan’s Marubeni Corp (TYO:8002), before it was shut down in late November 2021. Its proposal in the tender for Pego’s grid connection was favoured over those submitted by Tejo Energia SA, EDP Renovaveis SA (ELI:EDPR), Greenvolt - Energias Renovaveis SA (ELI:GVOLT), Brookfield Ltd & Bondalti SA and Voltalia SA (EPA:VLTSA).

To win in the competition, a proposal had to focus exclusively on the renewables development, whether it is power production or the production of renewable gases and synthetic fuels, and include a jobs plan and training programmes, among other criteria. A shorter time span between the coal-fired plant’s shut down and the start of a new project would also make a proposal stand out, according to Portugal’s ministry of environment and climate action.

Endesa did not say when its new power complex would start operations.

When the utility announced in May last year its plan for the region around the Pego plant, a wind farm was not part of the project. The complex was to feature a 650-MW PV farm, a 100-MW BESS and an electrolyser.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.1)

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