LISBON- Portugal's EDP Renovaveis (EDPR) , the world's fourth largest renewable energy producer, said on Friday it plans to install 1.3 gigawatts (GW) of new hybrid solar-wind projects at existing parks and dams in Iberia by 2025.

On Wednesday, EDPR won the right to build and operate 70 megawatts (MW) in Portugal's first auction of floating solar plants on dam reservoirs, combining the capacity with a wind farm.

EDPR Chief Financial Officer Rui Teixeira told Reuters that despite having agreed to pay the Portuguese electricity system 4.13 euros ($4.50) per megawatt-hour for that solar generation, the company bet on the combination, which "allows the project to be economically viable."

He said EDPR planned to install 900 MW of hybrid capacity in Spain by 2025, and 400 MW in Portugal.

In Iberia, EDPR has a installed capacity of 3.5 GW while globally it has 13.6 GW across 17 countries.

"We will use all possible combinations of renewable technologies in these hybrid projects in Iberia, which will clearly be a path for future growth," Teixeira said, pointing out that such projects do not require investment in new electricity lines to connect to the grid.

EDPR is studying equipping other Iberian dams with floating solar parks and combining them with wind turbines, as well as installing solar panels on wind farm land and vice versa.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent gas prices used in electric power plants to historic peaks.

"In the European context of ensuring greater security of supply, hybrid projects will be a way of accelerating the energy transition," Teixeira said.

($1 = 0.9208 euros)

(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Andrei Khalip and John Stonestreet)