Regional water company, Águas do Algarve invested in a photovoltaic energy production system at its water treatment plant in Tavira as the company continues to pursue its green, cost savings agenda.
The Secretary of State for the Environment finished his tour of the Algarve last week by ‘launching’ this Algarve utility even though the Tavira scheme has been producing electricity since last July.
The energy costs savings and drop in CO2 emissions will be similar to the already installed plant at the Alcantarilha water cleaning and pumping station.
Águas do Algarve, led by the fiscally suspect former mayor of Silves Council, Isabel Soares, points out that the construction of these two plants, which began producing energy last July, represented an investment of €1.2 million, 65% of which was paid for by a EU grant though the Algarve21 Programme.
Each panel has 1,760 photovoltaic panels which can produce a total 432 kW at the two sites. The company says that this led to a reduction of 155 tons of CO2 emissions in a five month period.
Jorge Botelho, president of the Tavira council and the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve (AMAL), was wheeled out to comment, "this is a good project for the Algarve with the installation of solar panels to harness and maximise clean and renewable energy.”
In his exciting trip to the Algarve, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Carlos Martins, opened a new sewage treatment plant in Vila do Bispo, laid the first stone of the future sewage treatment plant at Companheira in Portimão, and unveiled a plaque for the solar power station in Tavira.
Meanwhile the Social Democrats want an explanation from the government about its intention to reverse the restructuring of the water supply industry in Portugal.
A request has been registered that the Minister of the Environment must answer. The PSD wants to know the economic and financial justification for the unwinding of the former coalition government’s plan to make some sense of the water industry’s structure.
The previous coalition government were merging 19 multi-municipal water supply services into five regional companies, Águas do Algarve being one of them.
The current Socialist government announced as part of its pre-election programme that it will reverse this restructuring to allow the municipalities to choose whether to continue with the merger model or stay as they are.
The PSD question to Parliament stated that "contrary to what has been consistently stated by the Minister of the Environment (João Matos Fernandes), the reform in the water sector followed in-depth studies and intensive dialogue with municipalities. It is a reform that was not made for or against the councils, but in the national interest."
The Social Democrats have offered to pass on all the background studies that showed that merging water supply companies into larger units was a good way forward, while banging on about "greater social cohesion" and "harmonising tariffs."
The then opposition smelt a rat early on in the Passos Coelho government water merger plan and realised that merging water suppliers would take power away from those (over-charging) councils which use their in-house water companies to prop up inefficient administrations by charging astronomical mark-ups (Albufeira, Loulé).
Águas do Algarve saw an opportunity of taking control of council-run regional water supply services, swapping debt for the control of pipeline services to the end user, and most importantly, billing rights.
The ‘harmonisation of tariffs’ plan may have helped some water customers but generally, prices go up rather than down.
There is little doubt that certain Algarve councils have abused their monopoly position, with Loulé mayor Vitor Aleixo's Infralobo guilty of appalling bahaviour while overcharging its customers and Albufeira's residents paying mark-ups of up to 400%.
A return to the status quo will not improve efficiency in this fragmented sector, nor will the concentration of supply into a few regional suppliers, as the water regulator has proved to be an inefficient and powerless organisation that works for the water companies rather than the consumer.
