BIBLIOS

Tipo
Artigos em Conferência

Tipo de Documento
Resumo Extendido

Título
Geothermal Energy Use, Country Update for Portugal, 2025

Participantes na publicação
J.C. Nunes (Author)
Instituto Dom Luiz (IDL), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749–016, Lisboa, Portugal
A, Franco (Author)
G. Rangel (Author)
R. Martins (Author)
M.R. Carvalho (Author)
Dep. Geologia
IDL
C. Lourenço (Author)
L. Coelho (Author)

Resumo
In Portugal, the high-temperature geothermal resources are limited to the Azores Archipelago. They are associated with active (dormant) volcanoes, where silicious magma reservoirs in the Earth’s crust provide sustainable heat sources to support the existence of high-temperature geothermal systems.\nThe regional company that holds the Azorean geothermal concessions, EDA Renováveis S.A., operates three ORC power plants: two in the Ribeira Grande geothermal field, in São Miguel Island, with a combined power generation capacity of 23 MWnet, and one in the Pico Alto geothermal field, in Terceira Island, with 3,5 MWnet. Over the past decade, geothermal energy has guaranteed 36-40% of the electricity needs in São Miguel Island and 4-12% in Terceira Island. There are ongoing investments to expand the geothermal capacity in São Miguel Island, including the expansion of Pico Vermelho power plant (12 MWnet) and the repowering of Ribeira Grande power plant (5 MWnet). Both are under construction and are planned to be online by 2026. With the completion of the ongoing investments, geothermal energy will provide more than 50% of the power demand in São Miguel Island, contributing even further to the energy self-sufficiency of the Azores islands.\nIn Mainland Portugal and in the Azores islands, there are several low enthalpy occurrences, the latter usually associated with fumarolic fields, soil-degassing areas, and hot springs, used mainly in Thermal Baths/Spas facilities and also for cooking.\nThe Portuguese government, through FAI – “Fundo de Apoio à Inovação”, with the coordination of DGEG, developed in 2018 a national plan to demonstrate the viability of using natural mineral water in existing Spas as geothermal resources for heating purposes, to timely replicate several direct uses operating since the 1980s. These resources were evaluated at around 184 GWh/year on the Mainland and 9 GWh/year in the Azores mineral waters.\nTwo district heating networks for hotels and public buildings were also developed and are nowadays complete in Chaves (74ºC, 25 L/s) and São Pedro do Sul (67ºC, 19,4 L/s). In Chaves, the geothermal heat grid supplies 26 buildings (3 hotels, public swimming pools, and several municipal buildings). An independent small operation (110 kWth) was open in January 2022 in an emblematic museum located over an impressive former Roman Thermal Bath with innovations regarding the environmental management of the geothermal fluid and its disposal. The geothermal heat grid of São Pedro do Sul supplies 13 hotels, 2 thermal Spas, and an interpretation center.\nConcerning GSHP’s the potential is huge and continues to be exploited, with new projects ongoing and new specific regulations expected to be approved shortly. There are a few installations registered until now, but the technical data of the operations are scarce and do not represent the totality of what is installed in Portugal.\n


Evento
European Geothermal Congress 2025, 6-10 Oct.

Identificadores da Publicação

Local
Zürich, Switzerland.

Organizadores
European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC)


Keywords
Geothermal energy power generation thermal baths shallow geothermal energy Azores Islands.