The President of the Government of the Azores said today that he believes that it is possible to continue to produce and consume more electricity from renewable energy sources in the Region, rather than fossil fuels.
“The Regional Government of the Azores has defined three major goals within the scope of the Azores Energy Strategic Plan, a document which will soon become legal-binding. These are the increase in the participation of the electrical sector in the consumption of primary energy in the Azores (improving from the current 40% to 50% by 2018), the increase of renewable energies in the production of electricity (growing from the 2007 value of 28% to 75% by 2018, with a value of 50% achieved by 2013) and the increase of renewable energies in the total consumption of energy, growing from about 12% to 40% by 2018,” the President said.
Carlos César spoke at the opening ceremony of the 2nd Transatlantic Conference on Renewable Energies and pointed out the efforts of the Azorean Government in order to contribute to European commitment to reduce CO2 emissions, mainly through measures leading to energy efficiency, such as the Proenergia (Proenergy) Programme.
The President stressed that the Azores already registered significant improvements regarding that efficiency; he stated that, for example, the production of electric energy from renewable sources increased from 19.4% to 26.4%, and he considered essential the maximum commitment of the Azorean Electricity Company, as well as the creation of strategic partnerships with the business sector and the regional scientific systems.
“We firmly believe in and we are willing to promote, within the scope of these partnerships, the creation of a technological cluster related to geothermal power, which represents our biggest energy resource, covering several islands of the Azores,” the President stated.
Carlos César – stating that the region is also relies on the micro-generation for self-consumption, developed by companies and families, but with the possibility of injecting the surplus into the electricity network – said that he is sure that the expansion of the independent producers’ investment will accelerate the investment in renewable energies.
These are sufficient reasons, in his opinion, for the Azores to be become a Laboratory and a region of reference in the domains of energetic efficiency and the use of renewable energies.
“This is what we envision happening with our insertion and collaboration in the MIT-Portugal Programme and with our presence in the Green Islands project, to which other potential partners from the Azores and Massachusetts may still become affiliated if they are interested and represent an asset for the project,” the President of the Government concluded.