Sernancelhe mayor urges residents to object to floating solar plant on Vilar reservoir

The mayor of Sernancelhe, Carlos Santos, is urging residents to take part in the public consultation, open until 23 November, on a floating solar and wind hybrid project at the Vilar reservoir in the Távora valley. The revised plan has two islands of panels instead of four, but keeps 30,744 bifacial modules across 12 hectares of water. He says the cut changes nothing, citing risks to biodiversity, landscape, tourism and the aerial firefighting that uses the reservoir. Regional councils rejected the scheme in 2024, and three municipalities have since filed unfavourable opinions with the environment agency.