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Geothermal Energy in Portugal

Portugal Mainland

 

Azores

In Portugal geohydrological studies have increased considerably in the last two decades. Some of the projects have already passed the feasibility phase.

In the Portuguese mainland, there are about fifty natural low enthalpy geothermal occurrences spread all over the country. Temperatures range from 20°C to 76°C, however, most of these occurrences have temperatures between 20°C and 40°C. Their geographical distribution is not uniform throughout the country. The most important geothermal occurrences are located in the northern part of Portuguese mainland.

Most of the thermal waters flow in the Pre-Mesozoic Hesperic Massif associated with granitic and schistose rocks and are related to local and regional fault systems. The thermal occurrences issuing in the Western and Southern Sedimentary Borders display lower temperatures but have higher water flows and total dissolved solids than those from the Hesperic Massif (Carvalho, 1998).

In the Azores islands a large number of active volcanic manifestations are well known, justifying the considerable rise in geothermal investigations. The program on São Miguel Island has resulted in a pilot geothermal generator plant producing 20-25% of the island requirement (Bicudo da Ponte, 1998).
Average temperature of the reservoir is 240ºC at 1200 m and the well-head temperature is about 200ºC (Carvalho, 1998).

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EGEC (European Geothermal Energy Council)