The government has already approved 180 MW of solar energy in the Alentejo region of southern Portugal.

The agency said that 68 licensing requests were received between last September and May this year with a total power output of 2,300 MW, but only 35 were in conditions to advance, it said.

"These numbers show more developers are taking up this technology to produce electricity in a competitive market with clear, well defined rules", the agency told Lusa on Thursday.