Global amount of incentives allocated to energy generation from renewable sources increased in the Azores
The incentive scheme for the energy generation from renewable sources in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, also designated as ProEnergia, is an initiative developed by the Regional Government through the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and the Sea. It is intended to raise the awareness of companies and families for the importance of optimising the use of renewable energy in order to overcome the energy challenges the Azores face in terms of costs with fossil fuels as well as the environmental constraints of island territories.
This scheme has registered a significant increase in the global amount of the incentives allocated, which nearly quadrupled in 2011 compared with 2010. If the number of applications and the amount of financial support remains the same as registered in the first term, the global of allocated incentives will be equivalent to the total amount awarded last year by the end of the first half of 2012.
Despite the current economic situation that clearly affected the construction sector, it was expected that the number of submitted applications would drastically drop in 2011; however this was not the case. By the contrary, the number of submitted applications increased by 14%.
In this context and in order to monitor the growing adherence to the incentive scheme, the Government has recently introduced some improvements to the computer platform for submission of applications as well as a set of other measures to enhance procedures. With the approval of the legislative proposal to review Proenergia, procedures under this incentive scheme will become significantly faster. While there is a series of steps in the present legal framework concerning the system management that cannot be avoided for legal reasons, this problem will be partially solved.
Moreover, it is also important to stress the important contribution of ProEnergia for the integration of the Azores in the compliance with the Kyoto Protocol and the goals aimed at the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by stimulating the use of renewable resources for electricity generation as well as other forms of energy.