Construction of a 220 MW solar farm in Portugal is set to get under way following the signing of a contract between developer WElink Energy and China Triumph International Engineering.

Construction of a 220 MW solar farm in Portugal is set to start following the signing of a contract between developer WElink Energy and China Triumph International Engineering Co. Ltd. (CTIEC).

The £200 million Solara4 solar project will be the largest privately-funded solar farm in Europe and is the first in a series of investments planned by WElink in Portugal. Construction will start before the end of Q1 2017, the Dublin-based renewable energy firm said.

The project will cover 800 hectares of land in Vaqueiros, in the region of Algarve, southern Portugal, and will be generating electricity by the middle of 2018.

Economy Minister Manuel Caldeira Cabral remarked on the deal during the signing ceremony: “Consumers have in the past paid higher prices for the promotion of renewable energy, we do not want to stop the progress that renewable energy can have, but fortunately the technology has evolved and evolved in a way that solar energy can now be competitive, paying the investment with unsubsidized tariffs.”