Blowing them away

Five hundred megawatts! This is the amount of energy produced by the Portuguese subsidiary of EDF Énergies Nouvelles, specialised in operating wind resources. “This is a figure undergoing increase as strong as it is constant,” points out Carlos Pimenta, former Secretary of State for the Environment in Lisbon and head of the company.
EDF Énergies Nouvelles (EDF EN) was founded in 2001 and has undergone impressive growth in Portugal. “For the moment, the efforts we make in renewable energy focus exclusively on wind energy, allowing us to deepen our savoir-faire in this domain. We provide increasingly highly developed services in valuation, operation follow-up and innovation,” explains the Manager.
The company is endeavouring to mobilise various actors in such a way as to develop the subsidiary rapidly. It participated in the setting up in Portugal of a groupement d’intérêt économique (economic interest group) assembling a dozen companies, which has created, in the course of the last three years, over 2,000 industrial jobs. 95% of devices essential for the sector’s technology is produced in Portugal. In 2007, the government took an important measure to turn the country, until then an importer of wind farm technology, into an exporter. Today, Portugal no longer needs to import wind turbines. “A country’s future lies in its renewable energy. Unlike in France, in Portugal there exists no movement for organised opposition to the setting up of wind farms. This is a bonus allowing us to progress in leaps and bounds,” considers Carlos Pimenta.
EDF Énergies Nouvelles can notably boast of being the major shareholder of the Ventominho park in the north of the country, the second largest wind turbine power plant in Europe with a 240-mega-watt capacity. And the company doesn’t intend to stop there. “Several new projects are already underway. We are currently carrying out studies for measuring the wind in different locations, preparing for the property acquisition necessary for future developments, and analysing the impact of these initiatives on the environment,” continues the former Secretary of State for the Environment. “We are moreover waiting for government permission to start other more advanced projects.” Everything is being done to meet the 2020 target for 20% of energy consumed to be renewable, in accordance with the targets set by the European Union. Carlos Pimenta reminds that this figure represents “more than double of the current situation. So there is no time to waste. Even if our growth is very strong, we must not rest on our laurels but continue to forge ahead.”
Wind energy champion
Wind energy production in Portugal has multiplied by six in the last five years. The country’s geographical location partially explains the wind of success blowing over this market. 9.3% of national electricity is produced by wind turbines. This figure places Portugal in third rank in European countries in this area, the top two being Denmark (21.3%) and Spain (11.8%). Today, the country has installations with a capacity of around 3,000 megawatts, and produces almost as much wind energy as France. “Our production potential in this domain is estimated at about 7,500 megawatts,” says Carlos Pimenta.
If this energy subsidiary has met with such success, it is also because of the favourable government policy in place for the last few years. Portuguese legislation guarantees each citizen the right to connect to the electricity grid and become an energy producer. In 2001, a purchase rate of 88.20 euros per megawatt/hour was put in place by the Portuguese government. A base price indexed on the inflation rate and valid for the first 15 years of operation, within the production limit of 33 gigawatts. In 2005, Lisbon nevertheless lowered this rate by 15% to 76 euros.
International agreements are behind the national policy in favour of renewable energy. Portugal has notably been constrained by the Kyoto Protocol to diminish its emissions of gases with greenhouse effects by 8% between 2008 and 2012. The proportion of renewable energy in electricity production should reach 39 % by the end of 2010. In order to demonstrate its motivation to reform its energy policy, the government has brought this target up to 45%. On the European scale, other objectives must be met by 2020: gases with greenhouse effects should be reduced by 20% while energy efficiency should rise by 20%. “We’re on the right track,” asserts Carlos Pimenta. Portuguese authorities hope to inject into the national electricity grid more than 5,000 megawatts from wind sources by the end of the year.
The country’s structural organisation also plays a favourable part in this soar. “The electricity network is far more decentralised than in France,” explains the subsidiary head. He adds that “all these projects are vectors of growth for a multitude of other economic activities. We hope that the surge of EDF Énergies Nouvelles will attract numerous investors and new companies. Many qualified jobs in maintenance, civil engineering, new technologies and many other domains are regularly becoming available.”
On the economic front, the wind energy subsidiary is profitable in more than one way. “Public funds are doing better,” considers Carlos Pimenta. “There is a specific professional tax for the wind energy sector which benefits the commune where energy is produced. Not to mention the rent for the land being used.” The subsidiary represents an even more laudable resource given that land used for electricity production can simultaneously be used for other activities. Wind turbines occupy less than 5% of the surface area requisitioned.