EDP Corporation

Miguel Stilwell de Andrade, CEO of Portuguese power utility EDP, said the country's electricity demand is set to grow at an average annual pace of 4.5% over the next decade, making it one of the fastest-growing power markets in Europe, driven by a surge in data centre construction projects. More than 2.6 gigawatts of data centre projects are in development in Portugal, led by Microsoft's 1.2-gigawatt Start Campus in Sines, and these large-scale plans are expected to drive 60% of the increase in power demand. According to grid operator REN, Portugal's electricity consumption rose 3.5% year-on-year to 27.2 terawatt-hours in the first half, while EU power demand grew 2% over the same period, according to the International Energy Agency. De Andrade stressed that low-cost renewable energy and a transatlantic submarine cable network are helping Portugal establish itself as an emerging large-scale data centre hub.