The Sophia project, announced as one of the largest in the country, was drastically reduced to about two-thirds of its initial size. Developer Lightsource bp decreased the panel area from 395 to 258 hectares, a 35% reduction, and capacity fell 34%, from 867 peak megawatts to 573 peak megawatts. The municipality of Fundão was completely freed from solar panels, transferring that occupation to Idanha-a-Nova and Penamacor. The company states that the adjustments resulted from an extensive public consultation process that gathered 12,693 contributions, over 80 requests for information from civil society organizations and approximately 100 in-person meetings with entities from the tourism, agriculture and environment sectors.
The project is located in Beira Baixa, spanning the municipalities of Fundão, Idanha-a-Nova and Penamacor, taking advantage of a grid connection point through the Fundão substation. Lightsource bp committed to occupying mostly eucalyptus monoculture areas, which account for 70% of the total area, and to planting 39,000 cork oaks and holm oaks, 44% more than the legal obligation required. The company completely moved away from areas with future irrigation potential, which previously occupied 222.1 hectares, and created ecological corridors between the panels to allow species movement.
The CEO of Lightsource bp in Portugal, Miguel Lobo, is confident that the reformulated version will be better received, but admits that the investment is still undefined, expecting it to be lower than the approximately 591 million euros initially estimated. The final investment decision has not yet been made, and the company believes the project will have financial viability within three years. If all goes well, construction should begin in 2029 and the plant will only become operational in the second quarter of 2031.
The company developed a shared benefits program for local communities, which includes an electricity tariff with discounts up to 45% for residents, small businesses and social institutions. Over the 40-year lifespan of the project, Lightsource bp expects to contribute approximately 20 million euros in initiatives for the territory. The plant should produce over one million MWh annually, enough energy for 333,000 households, avoiding more than five million tonnes of equivalent CO2.
