“We are going to start work on building the Daivões dam and other ancillary works this year such as access roads, so this is the physical start of the works,” Tiago Amaral, one of the company’s managers said.
The three dams are to be built one after the other, first Daivões (Ribeira de Pena), then Gouvães (Vila Pouca de Aguiar) and lastly the Alto Tâmega (Chaves and Vila Pouca de Aguiar).
2016 is also going to see construction work begin on a quarry, access roads, platform and the Gouvães spillway.
Iberdrola said the dams would be finished in 2023 and most of the work would be concentrated between 2018 and 2020.
The project is expected to create about 3,500 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs.
The scheme, which was presented in December 2008, is going to produce 1.766 gigawatts an hour.