EDP says over 90% of power output to be renewable in 2024 after Spain deals

LISBON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The share of EDP's electricity output from renewable sources will rise to more than 90% next year from 85% now, after a decision to close one coal-fired plant in Brazil and three in Spain, CEO Miguel Stilwell said on Friday.

Portugal's largest utility said earlier it will sell 50% of its Abono unit, which has two coal plants - Abono I and Abono II - with a combined capacity of 904 megawatts, near Gijón in the Asturias region.

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It has requested authorisation to close Abono I, as well as its other remaining coal-fired plants in Spain - Soto 3 and Los Barrios - and plans to convert Abono II to be fired by gas until mid-2025.

Stilwell told Reuters that, after a deal to sell the Pecem coal plant in Brazil was signed in September, and with the decisions regarding the plants in Spain, "EDP's electricity production, at a global level, will be clearly above 90% renewable - hydro, wind or solar - already during 2024".

As of September, renewable electricity production represented 85% of total production.

"We are taking concrete steps and we will further consolidate our position of being one of the greenest utilities in Europe in 2024," the CEO said.

The plan is for Abono II to be fully operational as a natural gas plant in the second half of 2025, and EDP will maintain the existing workforce there, he added.

At the site, EDP also wants to install a 100 MW electrolyser to produce green hydrogen in the future.

The final investment decision regarding this hydrogen unit will be taken during 2024, when the company also expects to decide on another similar plant in Sines, Portugal.

EDP has a target to be coal-free by the end of 2025 and to use only renewable energy sources by 2030. (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Andrei Khalip and David Holmes)