1. PP7 (AZORINA) Presentation

2. Azores location The Azores Archipelago, Portugal is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about 1,500 km (930 mi) west from Lisbon and about 3,900 km (2,400 mi) east from the east coast of North America. Population: 246,746 (2011 census) Area: 2,346 km 2 (906 sq mi)

3. Bathymetric chart

4. Main Constrains Great deepness of the ocean; The Azores have 9 islands with nine independent electric grids; Untill now it was not economically and technically feasible to connect the electric grids of some of the islands considering the depth and the rocky bottom of the ocean; No grid connection with the European continent; Low penetration of wind energy due to the intermittence of wind and also to the fact that wind energy is not introduced in the power grid during the night (low demand during night time); High costs of offshore wind energy compared with on land wind energy; Lack of political will to support the offshore wind energy (mainly because of the high costs); Existence of a single energy operator (EDA) that is the main electricity producer and TSO in the Azores, due to the very small energy market.

5. Azores Energy Production 2013 Total of 792,5 GWh of electricity production in the Azores Total Renewable energies in 2013 (34%)

6. S. Miguel Island Energy Production 2013 Total of 412,2 GWh of electricity production (52% of the Azores) Total Renewable energies in 2013 (54%)

7. Current policy of Renewables in the Azores History -2008 Energy Strategic Plan for the Azores; -2010 Azores Energy Outlook (Resulted from a partnership between the Azores Regional Government, the University of the Azores and the MIT-Portugal program, which was called the Azores Green Islands Project); -2012 Azores Sustainable Energy Action Plan (resulted from a participation of the Azores in the ISLE-PACT project within the framework of the European Program “TREN/PREP/2009/D3/Islands”, along with eleven other islands or island regions from Europe). Aims of the latest energy plan (Azores Sustainable Energy Action Plan) 60% of the electricity from renewable sources; 20% of total primary energy from renewable sources; 35% of total primary energy used in the form of electricity; Reduction of the CO2 emissions in, at least, 20%, regarding the reference year 2005, until 2020.

8. Why AZORINA Participated in the project AZORINA participated in the 4 POWER project because the Azores Regional Government (through the Regional Directorate for Maritime Affairs) wanted to get information about the OWE in order to assess the possibility and reliability of getting OWE to the Region in the future.

9. What has the 4 POWER project brought us What the 4 POWER project brought us was essentially a valuable source of information about how things are done in the more advanced OWE regions; From this experience, we can highlight one issue that we consider critical for a future development of OWE in the Azores: Storage systems, particularly the pumped storage power at sea (presentation in the Gdansk meeting by Joerg Schweizer). Although this type of storage system is still under development, we consider that pumped storage power at sea can have some interest in the Azores because it requires a depth of water greater than 500 m.

10. Results of the Regional Consultation - PP7 Stakeholders consulted In Azores there aren’t any stakeholders working directly in the field of offshore wind energy, therefore the choices for the selection of appropriate entities to discuss these issues were very limited. Name organizationType organizationNamePosition Regional Directorate for EnergyEnergy government bodyAdriana MonizSuperior Technician Regional Directorate for EnergyEnergy government bodyHugo AraújoSuperior Technician Simbiente AçoresEnvironmental CompanyCarla MeloManager EDA – Azores Electricity UtilityAzorean eletricity utilityDavid EstrellaEDA Renováveis administrator Regional Directorate for Maritime AffairsSea government bodyMarco A. SantosSuperior Technician SASM – São Miguel Environmental Services Environmental government bodyManuela MartinsSuperior Technician

11. Results of the Regional Consultation - PP7 Incentive / Support system The stakeholders agreed that an earlier financial incentive in the construction stages of renewable energy projects would be appropriate in the Azores; The stakeholders disagreed with the use of feed-in-tariffs and green certificates incentive / support systems. Guidelines The creation of an incisive financing and incentive system, both at national level and community level could be helpful for the development of OWE in the Azores.

12. (Offshore) Grids Super-grid Best Practice (BP) is not applicable to the Azores; Grid Technology BP is useful because it provides some knowledge about the state of the art of the offshore grid connection technologies; Current situation in Germany (EnWG revision/system change/ONEP) BP and also the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) BP are of difficult application in the Azores, because there is no independent entity in the Region, like BNetzA, to assure the verification of the grid plans and other grid licencing process issues. Guidelines The stakeholders agreed that at the current stage none of the guidelines are applicable in the Azores. Results of the Regional Consultation - PP7

13. Permit Process Although the regional government is not currently supportive of any OWE promotion strategy, if some changes occur in the regional energy policy, the Italian permit process model is the one that could be better adapted in our region to implement an OWE permit system. Guidelines It is important the provision of a clear, reliable and streamlined legal procedure for the granting of permits and approvals necessary for the construction of offshore wind farms; The procedures also shall ensure the involvement of all stakeholders as well as the evaluation of potentially conflicting interests (as fishing, shipping, touristic activities, etc.) with a particular focus on the environmental impact; The permit process could be complemented through a “consent by silent” mechanism that connects to the “silence” of the administration on an application of private individuals, the legal meaning of a formal act of consent, providing a precise and binding timing for the issue of the authorization. Results of the Regional Consultation - PP7

14. Environmental Impact The Joint Industry program BP is not likely to be reproduced due to the fact that there is no political support of OWE, nor presence of OWE industry in the Azores; Regarding the Environmental Impact OWEZ and Imares BP, our stakeholders agree that it’s important to implement and develop strategies for the reduction of the negative environmental impacts in the flora, not only in the construction phase but also performing some monitoring of sensitive fauna in the operation phase, like seabirds and other endangered sea mammals; Regarding the German noise emission mitigation BP stakeholders agree that in the Azores this BP is not likely to be reproduced because in the case of installation wind turbines the foundation technology chosen would probably be floating devices and consequently the problem with the noise would be less important; Results of the Regional Consultation - PP7

15. Environmental Impact Guidelines The stakeholder agreed with the following statements, contained in the guidelines report: Many species of birds and marine animals may be particularly vulnerable and the type and grade of impact depends on a range of factors, such as location (protected wildlife and nature areas) and the variety of the fauna present. Therefore, the potential impacts must be examined case by case and mitigation measures must be developed; Scientific studies and monitoring work are an essential source of information and they can bring many benefits for the offshore wind industry, since a better scientific knowledge base leads to better and faster decision-making. Results of the Regional Consultation - PP7

16. Influencing Politicians / governments (NIMBY) The Political Will and Ambition in Scotland BP is not applicable in the Azores because the Regional Government is not supportive of OWE nor has any strategic plan on that matter; The Energy Valley BP is not likely to have similar application in the Azores because of the problem of who is willing to finance it. Guidelines The stakeholder agreed with the idea that political support from the public sector is an element of significant importance for the dynamic development of offshore wind energy. Results of the Regional Consultation - PP7

17. Costs of developing Offshore Wind The Joint Industry Program BP and Green Deal and TKI BP are not applicable in the Azores because the Regional Government is not supportive of OWE. Also there is lack of infrastructures and no natural available space, nor companies operating in the offshore wind energy sector. Guidelines It’s important to know how OWE technology evolves along the time, not only in terms of cost reduction, but also in other technological features, e.g. how deep can a OWE can be established. This could be achieved, as stated in the guideline report, by a subordinated institution (preferably on EU-level), that enables a coordinated and permanent exchange of information. Results of the Regional Consultation - PP7

18. Education – Technical Staff All BP are not applicable or make no sense in a regional level. If at nation level there is some OWE strategy (we have no information) possible there will be some logic for the creation of initiatives on technical and academic education; On Regional level, as this is an educational field very specific, it would only cover a very small amount of jobs. If this kind of renewable energy is installed in the Azores, it will be on job training as a result of the transfer of knowhow from the manufacturer to the client. To do this training on job it’s essential to have employees with a very good base education, being e.g. academic staff, like engineers or a more technical staff, like electricians. Guidelines Stakeholder consulted agree that the measures outlined in the guideline report are not applicable in the Azores. Results of the Regional Consultation - PP7

19. Infrastructures (Ports, Roads) Regarding the Differentiation of Ports BP some of the requirements for Azorean ports concerning the offshore wind industry do not exist, like production and installation ports. These kinds of ports are not likely to be implemented due to the small size and lack of scale and also due to the fact that there is no political strategy and plans regarding port development for OWE. Some ports perhaps could be used, in a smaller scale as operational, response, transshipment and refuge function. In either case this BP is not considered important for the development of OWE because it would require unlikely infrastructure investments and OWE policy changes. Regarding both Scottish situation BP and Upfront investment Eemshaven, test site and heliport BP, it’s not likely that this BP could be implemented in a regional level due to the lack of political support regarding OWE and to the fact that there it is very unlikely that Azores port authorities will be, on the medium and long term, willing to invest in port infrastructures with the purpose of OWE development. Results of the Regional Consultation - PP7

20. Infrastructures (Ports, Roads) Guidelines Stakeholders agreed that the measures outlined in the guidelines report are not applicable in the Azores; The stakeholders agreed that it is clear that the OWE development on regions depends significantly on specific location factors. Only if these are advantageous, the aforementioned strategic infrastructure development makes sense. Thus, a realistic evaluation of the relevant local and regional conditions is essential to avoid failures. Results of the Regional Consultation - PP7

21. Raising awareness (NIMBY, education) Offshore Information Centre, Rostock BP and The impact of OWE on tourism (study by Stiftung) don’t make sense to be applied to the Azores until there are some perspectives of appearing real OWE projects. Project OffWea – Information platform & factsheets BP wasn’t considered important for the OWE establishment in the Azores, but it makes sense at a national level due to the fact that it could serve as an important information bridge between developers and the general public. Guidelines Stakeholder consulted agreed that the measures outlined in the guideline report are not applicable in the Azores. Results of the Regional Consultation - PP7

22. Supply Chain – Value Added Chain – Resourses The stakeholders consider that all BP are not important or relevant for the development of OWE in the Azores. In the Azores at the current stage, the OWE supply chain companies are absent; In the Azores there is no perspective of the existence of a critical number of OWE projects that could lead to the creation of OWE related business; Any network agency needs a source of financing that usually is dependent on political support (companies usually don’t spend their own money on networks). Guidelines Stakeholder consulted agreed that the measures outlined in the guideline report are not applicable in the Azores. Results of the Regional Consultation - PP7

23. Conclusions of the Regional Consultation In the Azores there are some critical constrains that do not favor the implementation of OWE projects such as: Great deepness of the oceans just a few kilometers from the coastline; weather on the Atlantic ocean can be very rough; very limited capacity of the 9 independent electric grids for absorbing more wind energy. As consequence of these limitations, the lack of political support towards OWE is very unlikely to change on the coming years. Results of the Regional Consultation - PP7

24. Thank you for your attention