Portuguese PM inaugurates hydroelectric plant to fight climate change

LISBON, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa inaugurated Monday a hydroelectric complex on the Tamega river in northern Portugal to help the country fight against climate change.

Noting that there is "no time to waste" in dealing with climate issues, Costa said "investments in renewable energies" are "decisive."

The newly-built hydroelectric complex includes three dams in the Tamega Eletro-Producer System (SET) with an investment of more than 1.5 billion euros (1.52 billion U.S. dollars).

Portugal "realizes the urgency and emergency of climate change," the prime minister said. "We are among the territories that have suffered the most from coastal erosion and the increase in drought, and we know that we are one of the countries where the risk of forest fires increased the most."

He said the SET investment will "reduce the emission of the equivalent of 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide."

With a capacity of 1,158 megawatts, SET can store 40 million kilowatts, equivalent to the energy consumed by 11 million people in their homes for 24 hours, making it one of the largest energy storage systems in Europe.