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Introduction


The effects of the 1973 and 1979 petrol crises were particularly felt in Portugal, given its dependence on external sources for the supply of primary fuels, especially oil and its derivatives. It was because of this, and the growing demand for electricity in the country, that Electricidade de Portugal (EDP) decided to introduce coal burning power plants to supplement the existing hydro and oil burning plants. This was aimed at finding the optimum position in economic terms in light of rising oil prices and also at increasing diversification with respect to primary energy resources.

With the completion of the 4^th unit of the EDP Sines thermal power station in 1989, the installed capacity of fossil fuel plants in Portugal was 3500MW, approximately 50% of the national demand at peak in a year of average rainfall, and 60% during dry years.

With an average annual growth in demand of 5%, and large increases forecast for the 1990’s (in the order of 900 to 1300 MWh/year in 1990 and between 1300 to 1900 MWh/year by the end of the century), demand would only be met by using base load thermoelectric power plants, and hence there was a need to build another 1200 MW of capacity, including the 628MW coal-fired plant at Pego.