The Government of the Azores wants that the contribution of renewable in electricity production in the Archipelago rise from the current 28 to 75 percent in 2018.
The Information was provided by the Regional Director for Energy on Monday night during the ceremony to celebrate the 116th Anniversary of the Horta Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where Cabral Vieira presented a lecture under the theme “Towards a Sustainable Energy System” (A Caminho de um Sistema de Energia Sustentável).
Currently, 87 percent of the primary energy generated in the Azores is from oil, while the remaining 13 percent - and only in electricity production - is from renewable energies, added the Regional Director for Energy.
For the first time in the Azores, there was a decrease in the weight of fossil energy in electricity production in 2007 due to the entry into operation of the Pico Vermelho geothermal power plant on São Miguel.
According to Cabral Vieira, the Government's strategy aims to achieve greater energy efficiency on the islands, thus boosting the use of renewable energy in electricity production.
The Energy Certification of buildings and equipments, which will become mandatory in the Azores in 2010, the use of the bi-hourly rate and the future introduction of smart electric meters were some of the measures identified as being capable of promoting energy efficiency.
Cabral Vieira also defended the need to develop competences in the area of renewable energies on the islands, which is why there are 18 teams at the University of the Azores, composed by nearly 70 researchers working in this area.
As short-term measures, the Regional Secretary announced the upcoming changes in the legislation on the organisation and operation of the electricity and renewable energy sector, the review of the PROENERGIA programme, whose diploma is currently under consideration at Parliament, and the recent creation of the micro-production registration system, which allows the EDA client to become its supplier.
Regarding the changes in the PROENERGIA programme, Cabral Vieira said that the objective is to reduce the minimum investment required to companies, to change maximum amount of support as well as to eliminate the sale limit of the electricity surplus produced for self-consumption to the public network.
Under this programme, financial support will be awarded to the projects essentially addressed at consumption, promoted by small and medium companies, cooperatives, non-profit associations, individuals and condominiums. The history of the Horta Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which celebrated another anniversary yesterday, goes back to November 9 1893 when the permit approving the statutes of the Horta Commercial Association, its direct predecessor, entered into force.
Being obliged to change its name to Horta Trade Association by the “Estado Novo” (New State) – a situation that would endure until March 1977 – the early association only adopted the present name in January 1980.
Being an Institution of Public Utility and an Honorary Member of the Order of Industrial, Commercial and Agricultural Merit, the Horta Chamber of Commerce and Industry is currently led by Angelo Duarte and it represents traders, industrials, importers and exporters from Faial, Pico, Flores and Corvo.