Regional Director for Energy highlights interest of international experts and researchers in the Azores
The Regional Director for Energy stressed in Furnas, S. Miguel, the frequent contact from international experts and researchers with a view to conducting their work in the energy sector. According to her, this is an "excellent indicator" of the merits of initiatives aimed at the projection and positioning of the Azores as a privileged laboratory to test the best solutions for European insular territories in the area of energy.
Andreia Carreiro spoke at the end of a meeting with a group of students from the University of Grenoble, France, who are dedicated to research in Agriculture, Rural Development and Sustainable Territorial Planning. Their visit to the Azores is motivated by the sustainable practices of the archipelago.
"The Azores have undertaken efforts to project themselves within Europe as a Region with unique practices in the use of their natural resources and with the goal of decarbonising the economy through the energy sector," stressed the Regional Director. In this regard, she stressed the importance of creating internal and cross-border synergies "in order to enhance the territorial and climatic features of the Azores."
"We have been reinforcing our participation in international consortia, cooperation projects and working groups in the area of Energy," Andreia Carreiro said, mentioning the INTERREG-funded RESOR project. The Region is part of this project with a view to improving policies in energy support efficiency as well as in the secondary and tertiary sectors.
The Regional Director also pointed out the "Support Unit for the Deep Geothermal Implementation" project (SU-DG-IWG) under Horizon 2020. It aims to support and monitor a European task force for the implementation of a strategic technology in energy, namely in the use of geothermal resources, providing "a strong contribution to the validation of this natural resource."
"Additionally, we currently have three European projects under evaluation. After their approval, they will reinforce the role of the Azores as a case study in the area of Energy, thus gaining international recognition at the level of good practices in the field and attracting the interest of various researchers," added Andreia Carreiro.
"We are also coordinating the reception of international experts at the Regional Directorate for Energy under the "Pioneers into Practice" initiative, a European human mobility programme aimed at professionals who dedicate their activity to energy transition," said Andreia Carreiro. In this regard, she noted that "a specialist engineer in Energy and Climate from the municipality of Tampere, Finland, worked in the Azores in 2018."