BNZ, a Spanish IPP, is teaming up with GRS, a solar EPC contractor under Gransolar Group, on a 49 MW solar plant in northern Portugal.

The project, located near Vila Nova de Famalicão, will generate enough energy to power about 14,000 households. Construction is now underway, with GRS building the plant alongside local company Triple Watt. BNZ has also signed a protocol with the local government to handle the conservation of cork oak trees and reforest areas with native species.

“This is the result of the work we have been developing in recent months with Vila Nova de Famalicao to ensure that the promotion of a more sustainable future moves forward hand in hand with the growth of local communities,” said BNZ Chief Executive Luis Selva.

BNZ has a European solar portfolio of more than 1.7 GW under development across southern Europe. This project is the company’s first in Portugal, but it plans to install approximately 600 MW in the country by 2026.

The project is the seventh installation for GRS in Portugal. The company, which specializes in solar plants, said it has 2.9 GW of installed power across 118 operating plants throughout the world.

Portugal had 3,876 MW of cumulative installed solar capacity at the end of 2023, up from 2,646 MW at the end of the year prior, according to figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).