The objective is "to make the region less and less dependent on sources of energy production that require a continuous flow from or coming from abroad, as in the case of thermal energy", said the executive president, Vasco Cordeiro.

The leader of the regional executive spoke during the presentation of investments by the regional public company EDA - Eletricidade dos Açores in the production of clean energy on the island of Flores, integrated in the statutory visit of the Government of the Azores to that island.

Vasco Cordeiro referred that this "more global objective" of "energy autonomy" joins the "sustainability issues" and the promotion of "more environmentally friendly forms of energy production".

To achieve the goal of energy autonomy, the regional leader is aware of the "peculiar situation" of the Azorean islands, which require "nine energy producing systems", one for each island, because it is not "technically feasible" to create a single system.

Vasco Cordeiro stressed that the region still faces challenges in terms of consumption and energy efficiency, but he stressed that the Azores have followed a "positive" path in the production of renewable energy and underlined the need to "always have a vision of the future as to what remains to be done."

The president highlighted the "instrumental nature" of EDA for the realisation of regional strategic objectives.

"This value [of EDA], often reduced to a component of too many dividends or less dividends, cannot be overlooked for what it represents for the Autonomous Region of the Azores", he said.

On 15 May, EDA decided, at a general meeting, to distribute to shareholders all the profits obtained in 2019, that is, 16.5 million Euros.

This month a PPM initiative was discussed at the Regional Assembly, which asked the executive, as a representative of the region and a major shareholder of EDA, to deliberate to avoid the distribution of company dividends for 2019, an initiative that was failed.

During the ceremony on 24 June, the president of EDA said that the island of Flores already has a rate of 55 percent of renewable energy, stressing that the goal is to increase the value to 60 percent by 2023.

Duarte Ponte also said that the company foresees investment for the Azores to have a penetration rate of renewable energy of 60 percent by 2025.