The Alqueva produces energy, strengthens the water supply to 200 000 inhabitants, is ready to irrigate 88,000 hectares of the 120,000 expected and ends this year, after a total investment of 2,500 million euros.
After 19 years of work and 13 since the beginning of Bayou filling in the project, considered structuring for the Alentejo has been invested 2143 million of the projected total of about 2500 million, distributed to agricultural, hydroelectric and valences public supply.
The Alqueva reservoir, located in the “heart” of the Alentejo, on the Guadiana river, began to fill the February 8, 2002, has reached several times the full level storage and now , is at an elevation of 149.77 meters, ie 88% of total capacity.
The completion of the project, originally scheduled for 2025, was revised by the previous government to PS 2015 and then advance for 2013, which turned out not to be possible under the current Executive PSD / CDS-PP, which, however, undertook to finish the works this year.
In the agricultural valence, according to data provided by Enterprise Development and Infrastructures of Alqueva (EDIA), currently of about 120 thousand hectares of irrigated land in the planned overall project, 68 000 are in operation and 20 000 start work on irrigation campaign this year, in early spring, making a total of 88,000 hectares. The remaining about 30 thousand hectares are under construction with a view to completing the project by the end of this year.
As for the water supply, the edia ended in 2010, the links between the reservoir “mother” of Alqueva and public supply covered by the project, which is ready to power about 200,000 inhabitants where there is the need to strengthen. They are the links between Alqueva and reservoirs of dams Purple, the Enxoé, and Alvito (Beja) and New Monte (Évora).
The dam Purple supplies the municipalities of Aljustrel and Beja ; the Enxoé the Serpa and Mértola; the Alvito the Alvito, Cuba, Portel, Vidigueira and Viana do Alentejo; and the New Mount of Évora, Reguengos de Monsaraz and Mourão.
In the energy valence, and has built the core of Alqueva and Pedrógão, which began operating in 2004 and 2006, respectively, and were concessioned to the EDP, edia completed in 2011 the installation of the five small hydro project. These are located along the dams of Alvito, Lisboa, Piso, Purple and Serpa, in the district of Beja, entailing an investment of EUR 16 million and that together produce 30 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy in average year .
After obtaining the grant, EDP doubled the power of the central Alqueva, from 260 to 520 megawatts (MW), building a second plant, which cost about 190 million euros and started producing energy in October 2012. With the duplication, the central Alqueva I and II became the second largest hydro in Portugal.
The edia also bet on other renewable energy sources with a photovoltaic plant in operation since 2007 along the dam of Alqueva, with an installed capacity of 65 kilowatt peak (kWp) and an annual output of 68,500 kilowatt hours (kWh).
The global Alqueva project required the construction of a new town to house the 400 inhabitants of the “old” village of Luz, flooded by the reservoir waters, a total investment of about 39 million.
Alqueva in its total storage capacity, an elevation of 152 meters, is the largest artificial lake in Europe, with an area of 250 square kilometers and about 1160 kilometers margins.
The maximum volume of water reservoir, 4150 cubic hectometres, “is very close to the total annual water consumption of all agriculture, industry and population in Portugal, “stresses the edia.
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