The role of geothermal in the energy transition in the Azores, Portugal

The Azores Archipelago is characterised by a challenging power market, where each island corresponds to an independent power generation system and where demand is low and very asymmetric, limiting the size of the renewable projects that can be built and economically feasible locations. Traditionally, the power generation in the Azores Islands has been based on the consumption of fuel oil in thermal Diesel power plants, and in the early 1990s more than 90% of the electricity supply relied on fossil fuels. However, over the past two decades the share of renewables for power generation has progressively increased; they currently provide 37% of the electricity needs in the Archipelago. Amongst the renewables, geothermal plays the predominant role on the most populated islands, providing up to 42% of the electricity needs of São Miguel Island and 11% of Terceira Island. This paper summarises the key contributions from geothermal for the ongoing energy transition in the Azores, including plans for and challenges to future expansion of geothermal production in such small and isolated power generation systems