A jury has picked a consortium led by Energias de Portugal (EDP) as the winner of a major Portuguese wind power tender, the company said on Wednesday. "Today, Eolicas de Portugal consortium, which includes the wind power operators Enernova (EDP Group) ... was notified, by the respective jury, that it was placed in first place of the Phase A of the public tender," EDP said in a statement. EDP has a 40 percent stake among the wind power operators that participate in this consortium, it said.

EDP and Galp now have 10 days to consider the result. EDP has said it would invest 1.51 billion euros (US$1.9 billion) and create 1,800 new jobs if it wins the tender. The tender is for the construction of wind turbines with a total capacity of 1,000 MW around Portugal. The two-phase tender is one of Europe s biggest wind power projects and will aim to cut Portugals heavy fuel bill as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

A group led by Spains Iberdrola and Gamesa -- which was rejected in the first round of the bidding -- had challenged the result of the tender in the courts. That challenge was overturned by a government appeal. Another consortium, led by Union Fenosa and Italys Enel, which was rejected in the first round, had appealed directly to Portugal s economy ministry to be readmitted. (US$1=.7882 Euro)
(Planet Ark, 05/10/2006)