Iberdrola is just one step away from commissioning the final power plant in the Tâmega Complex, the largest energy-sector project in Portuguese history. The project has involved the construction of three dams and three hydroelectric power plants—Gouvães, Daivões, and Alto Tâmega—in northern Portugal. Generator 2 is already producing clean energy, while Generator 1 is expected to come online in the coming weeks.
The Tâmega Complex is Iberdrola’s flagship project and one of the largest hydroelectric projects undertaken in Europe in the past 25 years, with a combined capacity of 1,158 MW, representing a 33% increase in Portugal’s hydroelectric storage capacity. In addition, it increases the country’s installed power generation capacity by 6%.
The complex will be capable of generating 1,766 GWh per year, enough to meet the energy needs of the surrounding municipalities and the cities of Braga and Guimarães, equivalent to approximately 440,000 homes.
In addition, this major renewable energy infrastructure will have sufficient storage capacity to supply 11 million people for an entire day. The project will also prevent the emission of 1.2 million tonnes of CO₂ per year.
This is where CT Engineering Group comes in. For the commissioning of the three hydroelectric power plants—a major undertaking involving a five-year commissioning period—Iberdrola requires a team with the technical expertise and resources needed to carry out a wide range of activities.
CT Engineering Group has contributed more than 28,000 hours, with multidisciplinary teams working both on-site and remotely on electrical engineering activities as part of a team led by Iberdrola. On the one hand, we have supported a service package covering quality control and system definition using ePlan. On the other, at two of the plants—Gouvães (880 MW) and Alto Tâmega (160 MW)—our engineers have contributed to the design of the telecommunications network, the control system (SCADA), the commissioning process, protection systems associated with key equipment such as turbines and transformers, and the integration of all systems to simulate their behavior under fault conditions.
We have been collaborating with Iberdrola for more than five years on the development of control engineering for hydroelectric power plants. However, this project stands out for its unique characteristics and unprecedented scale. Gouvães, the most significant of the three plants, includes a pumping station and an upper reservoir (Insert video explaining how a pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant works, bibliography). It features four generating units with a combined capacity of 880 MW, housed in an underground cavern with a volume equivalent to 25 Olympic-size swimming pools. The plant is reversible, meaning that water from the Daivões reservoir can be pumped and stored in the Gouvães reservoir, taking advantage of the elevation difference of more than 650 meters between them. This makes it possible to store energy by pumping water when there is excess electricity generation, for example at night, and recover that energy when needed during the day.
The opportunity to participate in this project is the result of our capabilities and extensive experience in similar projects carried out in Spain, including the La Muela, Aldeadávila, and Cortijo hydroelectric power plants, among others.
