European energy giant commissions its first hybrid solar hydro project

Portugal-based energy company EDP has commissioned a hybrid generation project that adds a 48-megawatt (MW) solar plant to the existing 41 MW Pracana Hydro Power Plant in the company’s home country of Portugal – the first of its type for the company and one of the first in the world.

The new 89 MW complex combines 90,000 solar panels with the Pracana hydroelectric facility, located in the centre of the country, which has been operating since 1951.

This marks EDP’s first hybrid renewable energy project utilising these two specific technologies and is also Portugal’s first such project.

In Australia, EDP Renewables is advancing two solar-battery hybrid projects -Punchs Creek in Queensland that combines 400 MW of solar with a 400MW/1,600MWh battery, and Merino near Goulburn in New South Wales, which will comprise 450 MW of solar with a 450MW/1,800MWh BESS.

Both projects have won underwriting agreements through the federal government’s Capacity Investment Scheme. 

“Pracana is another milestone in our strategy: by combining hydropower and onshore solar, we reinforce system stability, accelerate the energy transition, and reduce territorial impact,” said Pedro Vasconcelos, executive board member at EDP and head of the group’s business in the Iberian Peninsula.

“It is EDP’s first project of this kind globally and proves that innovation and efficiency can go hand in hand.”

Construction began on the solar plant in January of 2025 and is expected to produce 87-gigawatt-hours (GWh) of solar energy each year.