Portugal and Iceland sign MoU to share knowledge on geothermal, renewable energies

António Costa noted he is the first Portuguese Head of Government to visit Iceland in an official capacity and that this is “an important opportunity to deepen bilateral relations”, namely in the field of energy, one of the visit’s central themes.

“We have opportunities here to develop our relations in terms of renewables. From our side, we expect to learn from Iceland’s experience in the geothermal sector, namely regarding carbon capture for industrial use,” he added.

The Prime Minister of Iceland said: “There are a series of fields on which Portugal and Iceland can work closer, such as oceans and energy,” namely wind energy, an area the Portuguese companies are interested in bringing to the Icelandic market.

“Portugal and Iceland share common values and perspectives on the main challenges and shifts in the world, especially climate change and ocean protection,” the Portuguese Prime Minister noted.

Jakobsdottir added: “Fighting climate change and protecting the oceans mean we must deepen our relations.”

Katrin Jakobsdotti also referred to the Council of Europe Summit on 16 and 17 May in Reykjavik, which António Costa will also attend.

The greatest potential for cooperation between Portugal and Iceland is in the field of renewables, where both countries are investing heavily, representing opportunities for the Portuguese companies supplying equipment for renewable power plants, from turbines and generators to small scale solar solutions for producing electricity outside the grid.

The Prime Minister, together with the Secretary of State for Energy, Ana Fontoura Gouveia, visited the Selfoss Geothermal power plant, the largest in Iceland and one of the largest in the world with 303 MW of installed capacity, from which Portugal can learn how to leverage its natural resources.

Here, two memoranda of understanding were signed between the Portuguese Energy Agency and the National Energy Authority of Iceland: One to set up a co-operation framework for sharing knowledge, technical collaboration and developing joint projects; another for cooperation in the fields of energy efficiency, where Portugal holds experience it can share, such as prosumers, and geothermal energy.

Next, António Costa travelled to Carbfix, an industrial unit for carbon capture and mineralisation. Portugal also has a few projects in this area, through the forest and voluntary carbon market, but it does not yet have projects in industrial capture.

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Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/other-renewables/18052023/portugal-and-iceland-sign-mou-to-share-knowledge-on-geothermal-renewable-energies/