Politicians see geothermal as a pillar of sustainability for the Azores, Portugal
Pico Alto geothermal power plant, Azores/ Portugal (source: Exergy ORC)
Alexander Richter
25 Sep 2019
Geothermal energy described as a fundamental pillar for the Azores Islands, as renewable energy source and also in the context of conservation and promotion of the nature image for the Azores, for which tourism is an important part of its economy.
The Azores islands belonging to Portugal can build on geothermal resources for a large part of their energy demand. About 20% of the electricity demand is covered by geothermal energy plants on Terceira with the 3.5 MW Pico Alto plant, and on San Miguel with around 25 MW installed capacity as we reported in 2018.
With climate change being all over the news, it might not be surprising that geothermal energy is part of the ongoing political debate with the upcoming elections in October. The Pico Alto plant was now stop on the campaign trail for one of the parties, whose leader points to geothermal as the “cornerstone of sustainability” for the Azores. Stating that it is “a fundamental pillar, as it enables low-impact energy production for the islands. From this it contributes to the conservation and promotion of the nature image of the Azores.”
In a study, ThinkGeoEnergy did earlier this year we looked at how important geothermal is in the energy mix of countries, and below shows that for the Azores, geothermal energy is indeed an elementary part.
Source: Acoriano Oriental
