The government signed an offshore drilling licence on January 11th, allowing Galp-ENI consortium to drill for oil and gas in the Alentejo basin, while at the same time working on a range of renewable energy projects with a potential investment of over €800 million.
This is not the government’s spend, but suggested totals from the corporate sector which aims to add up to 750 megawatts in national energy capacity over the next few years.
According to the Ministry of Economy, keen as ever to encourage the public to think it is doing more than handing out authorisations, "along with 380 megawatts of solar plant licenses, with no consumer subsidised tariffs and with guarantees already delivered by developers, the government has approved 41 megawatts for three biomass plants."
To this may be added, "a windfloat wave energy project which represents an investment of about €125 million over the next few years and whose connection to land will be made without burdening consumers,” according to a buoyant statement from the Secretary of State for Energy’s office.
The government said that EDP Renewables has announced a deal with wind turbine manufacturer Senvion that will see 216 windmills installed.
Jürgen Geissinger, CEO of Senvion, said: "We are delighted to sign this contract with EDP Renewables, a major worldwide player in the wind business. Senvion is particularly proud to be selected as their supplier for a major investment and in their home country Portugal. For many years, Portugal has been a place of strategic investments for Senvion and our long-term vision is rewarded by this contract."
José Costa, Managing Director of Senvion Portugal, added, "With over 1,200 employees in world-class blade manufacturing and nacelle assembly factories exporting in virtually all markets where Senvion is present, Portugal has become a true success story for Senvion. This contract is yet another milestone in this key market."
The Secretary of State for Energy’s office also commented that, "within the framework of the working group set up by the Government to carry out forest reform, about 60 megawatts of permits for biomass power plants will be launched soon."
In 2015, 27% of Portugal’s energy was derived from renewable sources, the seventh highest in the European Union.
"With the exception of authorisations resulting from previous applications, the new political orientation of the government is to authorise power production without feed-in tariffs," according to the Ministry of the Economy.
The Secretary of State for Energy’s office confirmed that for renewable energy, "subsidising the current installed capacity costs Portuguese consumers an extra €600 million a year.”
With all this good news on renewable energy investment, especially as the consumer no longer will be subsidising renewable energy production, it is a wonder to many that the government insists that oil and gas production off Portugal's shores and on land is a suitable fit with the country's current and future energy mix.
The potential environmental costs of an oil-related accident affecting the country's coastline, upon which many tourism busiensses depend, have been ignored in favour of illusory royalty income from big oil companies which all are well versed in screwing good deals out of weak and inexperienced governments.
