The environmental licensing process by the Portuguese Environment Agency is currently available for public consultation, until 28 December.
The turbines make up what is known as the Picos Verdes II Wind Farm, in Vila do Bispo, which has been running since November 2003.
According to the documents available for consultation, the wind farm currently comprises “seven obsolete wind turbines that are worn down, have high maintenance costs and low efficiency”.
The modernisation project put forward by company Unit Energy Renewable Energies includes replacing the old turbines with six new, modern ones, which will increase the installed power of 10.25 megawatts (MW) to 12.3 MW.
The new structures (tower plus blades) will be larger than the existing ones, growing from 100 to 150 metres in height.
“It is also worth mentioning that the existing wind turbines do not allow the quick and efficient execution of the temporary stoppage of wind turbines, making it impossible to implement the protocol for the temporary stopping of aero-generators during the critical passage of migratory gliding birds”, the environmental impact study warns.
It should be noted that this wind farm is located in an important avifauna migratory corridor, which led the Institute of Nature Conservation and Forestry (ICNF) to seek the implementation of a bird detection system and wind turbine shutdown, in order to reduce bird mortality by collision with the equipment.