The Regional Director for Energy highlighted today the work carried out with a view to improving energy performance in tourism projects, highlighting the campaign for the Promotion of Energy Efficiency in the Azores focused on these projects.
 
Andreia Carreiro spoke in Ponta Delgada at the opening of an awareness-raising session directed to the units participating in that campaign, which was organised by the Regional Directorate for Energy.
 
"With this initiative, we intend to improve the energy performance of these projects through the training, promotion and dissemination of good energy efficiency practices, so that they can achieve better energy management. They will also have environmental and economic advantages for the Azores as a whole and for each of the entities adopting them," stressed the Regional Director.                                    
 
After this awareness-raising action, the entities involved are able to prepare and present a proposal for an energy efficiency plan that includes measures suited to their reality, with a view to increasing the energy efficiency of their hotel unit.
 
Andreia Carreiro pointed out that the 10 tourism enterprises that have presented the most promising energy efficiency proposals will benefit from technical monitoring in their implementation.
 
They will also be fitted with charging station for electric vehicles to be installed in their premises that can be used by employees, guests and visitors, thus promoting electric mobility, "one of the best forms of energy efficiency," added the government official.
 
"By improving their energy performance and providing charging stations, these units will gain recognition and, consequently, boost their competitiveness in the market, for their environmentally correct positioning in the services they provide," said the Regional Director.
 
"This was a challenge that we launched to the sector, considering the Government's commitment to certify the region as a sustainable destination. This entails the preparation of all stakeholders so that they can provide an appropriate response to future challenges in terms of energy, while helping them to meet the targets proposed for the promotion of the archipelago," said Andreia Carreiro.
 
The Regional Director also mentioned that this project was presented as an example of good practices under way in the Azores to the European consortium of "RESOR - Supporting energy efficiency and renewable energy in European islands and remote regions," a project aimed at promoting energy efficiency and the use of clean energy sources in industry, trade and services. On the occasion, she also highlighted the interest shown by several partner regions.