Jobs and wealth. After all, what does the blue economy represent for Portugal? – Economy
The DGPM Blue Economy Observatory reveals that the sea has a weight of 5.4% of total Gross Value Added (GVA) and 4% of direct GVA, according to the latest available data, also referring to 2018.
Of Portugal’s total exports, the economy of the sea has a weight of 5%.
With regard to ports, transport and logistics, in 2020, there were three million TEU (measure used to calculate the volume of contents) in Portugal and there were 661 ships registered with the standard Portuguese flag and 61,000 active seafarers.
Also in 2020, 21,382 coastal security actions were carried out and 7,576 records were raised.
In the same year, 169,000 tons of fish were caught, worth 262 million euros, with exports of goods of the honor of fish representing 1.6%.
Aquaculture production stood at 14,000 tonnes in 2019, of which 12,900 tonnes were sold.
Portugal also has two oceanic renewable energy plants (2020), with 25,400 kilowatts (KW) of installed capacity.
Coastal tourism, in turn, generated revenue of around 1,100 million euros in 2020.
The maritime ones covered 18.4% of the mainland coast in a critical situation of the works line.
Between 2019 and 2020, 86,000 students participated in 56 nautical sports training centers, as well as 686 graduates in sea courses at higher education.
Escola Azul, an educational program of the Ministry of Economy and the Sea, which promotes ocean literature, reached 2,927 students in 2020, 32,035 teachers and 234 schools.
Expenditure on research and development (R&D) represents 105 million euros in 2019 (latest data), i.e. 3.5% of the national total.
The monitoring report of the National Strategy for the Sea 2013-2020, of December 2021, added that 6,926 operations worth 1,300 million euros were financed through Portugal 2020 for the sea area.
The turnover of companies directly related to the major sectors of activity of the maritime economy, in 2019, amounted to 412,640,613,433 euros.
Energy companies call for blueprint for potential ocean country
In Portugal, the first steps are still being taken in terms of renewable ‘at sea’, operating at the moment the Windfloat project (floating offshore wind), which has started to explore the wind potential at sea, in more than 40 meters, being the first offshore wind farm in the world without traditional pile resources that are used in depth in this type of infrastructure.
For the chairman of the board of the Portuguese Association of Renewable Energy (APREN), Pedro Amaral Jorge, there is still a way to go so that Portugal can take its geographical position favorable to the exploitation of the ocean’s potential.
“Portugal can make the mistake of overlooking this opportunity, if it does not establish itself as a pole of reference, both in ‘offshore’ floating wind power and other technologies for the use of oceanic renewable energies, for lack of a cohesive strategy to the next few years, when other markets advance with well-marked positions in this area”, the official told Lusa.
For APREN, so that the country can benefit from the existing potential “and the technological advances that lie ahead” in this area, “urgently” to “define a national strategy for ‘offshore’ renewables in the short and long term, analyzing energy potential and establish expansion goals and policies”, to “create competitive and fair mechanisms that attract investment with the creation, in Portugal, of value chains and job creation” and to “continue to invest in research and development of technologies to harness of waves and tides”.
Pedro Amaral Jorge also highlighted the need to plan and invest in electricity grid infrastructure and, eventually, a ‘hydrogen pipeline, for ‘offshore’ technologies and upgrades in accordance with new infrastructure targets for national investments, as well as investments in investments in the development of new port infrastructure that allow the development and construction of infrastructure to be later installed off the coast.
In Portugal, EDP started investing in this type of technology, with the development of WindFloat Atlantic, which, after a pilot phase, came into operation in 2020, with three wind turbines, each with an installed power of 8.4 megawatts ( MW).
“In our opinion, this is the right path, and we believe that there are great opportunities to expand this technology, both in Portugal and abroad, which EDP, via OW opportunities [Ocean Winds, a ‘joint venture’ criada pela EDP Renováveis e Engie]explora to achieve the goal of valuing decarbonization, as it represents EDP, in response to Lusa.
For the group, objective’ already objective’ by Belgium, Miguel Stilwell, “to expand and Japan”, as for example in the United Kingdom, Korea and Japan, while continuing to identify new opportunities in the market.
“Countries with more stable regulatory frameworks and naturally where competitions or ‘greenfield’ opportunities are organized [onde se possa construir do zero] are our region eg Italy, Spain, Greece, Lithuania, Europe and Brazil, Norway, Spain, Greece, as Europe and Brazil, Italy, Spain, Greece.
Currently, global offshore wind energy capacity is almost 41 gigawatts (GW), with almost half of that capacity (21 GW) coming on stream in 2021, with installed capacity expected to reach more than 200 GW by 2021. 2030, worldwide.
More electricity production, which is what is equivalent to ‘onshore’ land, the tendency is to have a cost standard in relation to APREN, ‘offshore to ‘onshore’ values.
According to WindEurope, an association based in Brussels, Belgium, which promotes the use of wind energy in Europe, the LCOE for this technology will be between 53 and 76 euros per mwgawatt-hour (MWh) in 2030, less than half of what is currently checks, while in 2040 costs should drop by 30 euros per MWh.
However, for Pedro Amaral Jorge, in the current context of the energy crisis, there are other issues that matter, such as security of supply, energy energy and predictability of costs over 10 years.
“Today, it would be cheaper to produce ‘offshore’ wind electricity when with the prices of the Iberian wholesale market, determined prices of natural gas and CO2 emission permits. [dióxido de carbono]”, highlighted the head of APREN.
For Iberdrola, a Spanish company operating in Portugal, one of its main growth platforms is the development of offshore wind technology, with 1,258 MW in operation, with plans to put another 7,000 MW into operation by 2027, of the 2,600 MW already are under construction, he told Lusa.
For the Spanish group, “the key to considering a country’s offshore potential is the review of the Territory Planning Plans, which it considers as the most viable areas for ‘offshore’ wind in coexistence with other uses of the mar” , as well as “a regulatory framework that allows for an agile processing of licenses and an evaluation scheme that stimulates investment and gives visibility to the investor”.
As highlighted by APREN, in terms of waves and tides, Portugal has been the scene of marine energy exploration projects, but all of them are in the demonstration and experimental phase.
The first power station in Portugal was installed in 1999 in Porto Cachorro, Ilha do Pico, Azores, to use wave energy, the first in the world on a real scale for the electricity distribution network, with a power of kilowatts (kW) of approximately 400 watts (kW), was in operation with the autonomous operation mainly in 2010, ending in 2018, for reasons of safety of the structure.
Alongside the Açadoura projects, in Póvoa de Varzim, there are two: the Archimedes Wave Swing project, with an installed capacity of two MW, was installed in 2004 and was installed for a year, and the Pelamis, in operation in 2008, which was in operation during the year 2008, which was installed in 2008 operating only three months, due to technical problems.
In 2012, near the coast of Peniche, a technology device called WaveRoller came into operation, a plant that had 100 kW of power and connection and was in operation until 2014.
“Any project, despite the projects, can be developed an important project for the development, the construction of the construction, and an important result to be developed for the development of the project”.