Portugal's government has approved four areas in the Atlantic Ocean where offshore wind farms can be installed, moving a step closer to launching the first licensing auction of offshore capacity, which it plans this year.
Two of the areas are off the coast of Viana do Castelo in northern Portugal, one near the port of Leixoes also in the north, and another off Figueira da Foz in the central region.
These areas "have the best natural conditions for the installation of parks for the production of ocean-based energy", the government said in a statement late on Thursday.
"(They) will allow to meet the government's target of installing a capacity of 2 GW by 2030 ... contributing to national energy independence," it said.
The government wants to launch the first auction of licences to build offshore wind farms this year, but has yet to decide the exact timing, total capacity on offer and other conditions.
Portugal already has a small, 25 MW floating wind project off Viana do Castelo that is owned by Ocean Winds, a joint venture between Portugal's main utility EDP EDP.LS and French company Engie ENGIE.PA.
A number of other utilities have shown potential interest in the auction, including Germany's BayWa, the Irish-Spanish consortium IberBlue Wind, fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and a joint venture between Portugal's Galp and France's TotalEnergies.
The floating wind farms will be installed in deep waters where winds are stronger and more continuous, allowing the generation of more power than those fixed to the seabed near to shore or those on land.
(Reuters - Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Frances Kerry)