Portugal is opening Europe’s biggest floating solar park this year
Floating solar on reservoirs is quietly rewriting what clean energy infrastructure can look like — and Portugal is leading the way. At Alqueva, Europe’s largest artificial lake, 12,000 solar panels work alongside an existing hydropower dam, producing 7.5 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year without requiring new land or new grid connections. Electricity from the park costs a third of what a gas-fired plant produces at current fuel prices, making the case that green power can be both practical and affordable. Models like this give the broader renewables transition something valuable: a proven, cost-competitive blueprint ready to scale.
