The Azores Situation Report Wednesday 11th October 2023

Delta launches first Portuguese coffee produced in the Azores. 

Delta launched the first Portuguese coffee entirely produced in the Azores, an archipelago that has “very favourable conditions” for “extreme quality” production, as revealed today by the group’s executive president.

“The most special thing of all is making the impossible possible. Europe does not have the climatic and land conditions to produce coffee. What we called it was ‘Impossible Coffee [Café Impossível]”, said Rui Miguel Nabeiro in statements to the Lusa agency.

And he added: “Europe, being one of the largest consumers, did not produce coffee and now it has become possible to produce coffee in Europe, particularly in Portugal and the Azores”.

Delta Cafés announced today in Lisbon the launch of the Azores coffee batch, which resulted from a partnership between the Government of the Azores and the Association of Azorean Coffee Producers, which will be available in “Delta The Coffee House Experience” stores.

The group’s executive director recalled that the “dream” of producing coffee in Portugal began in 2018, when the company joined International Coffee Partners.

That year, Delta became aware of the existence of small coffee producers in the Azores and the following year it promoted a study to “understand which coffee species” were most suitable for the Azorean climate, an investigation that resulted in a report delivered to the regional executive.

“Over the last four years, we have been supporting all small coffee producers in the Azores. At this point, as there is already some coffee, we ended up being able, commercially, to launch a batch with 100% Portuguese coffee, 100% coffee from the Azores”, he highlighted.

The coffee now available is Arabica, but Rui Miguel Nabeiro highlights that the Azorean islands can produce other types of coffee.

“The Azores have a very favourable climate. It is a very humid climate, with constant rain and mild temperatures. The volcanic land itself, which we would think would make plantation difficult, ends up having, at the end of these last four years of studies, optimal conditions to produce at least six species of coffee,” he stated.

Wine in Azores celebrates 15 years of promoting wines and products across borders. 

‘Wine in Azores’, which takes place from the 20th to the 22nd of October, in Ribeira Grande, in the Azores, celebrates 15 years, in an event designed to promote wines, meat and fish across borders, was announced today.

The event organized by Gorgeous it’s Azores takes place at the São Miguel Exhibition Park, located on the premises of the Associação Agrícola de São Miguel, in Santana, and has a tasting area and a restaurant area with bars, gin tasting and sales of wines, in addition to the presence of regional and national ‘chefs’.

For the person responsible for the organization, Joaquim Coutinho, “having managed to create a successful event like this over 15 years is special”, adding that “the growth of tourism in the Azores has resulted in an increase in the presence of tourists at ‘Wine in Azores’.

1st edition of solidarity trail in the Military Zone of the Azores 

The Military Zone of the Azores (ZMA) organizes on Sunday, in Sete Cidades, in São Miguel, in the Azores, an 18-kilometer trail race and an 11.5-kilometer walk, events open to institutions, clubs, sports organizations and population.

The initiative, takes place because of the celebrations of the 187th anniversary of the ZMA, which throughout 2023 will hold several events, covering the military, sporting, cultural and religious spheres, to promote “interaction with local institutions and the population in a more comprehensive way”.

The sporting event in Sete Cidades has a charitable nature, as the funds raised through the registration of athletes and participants will be donated to a Social Solidarity Institution in the municipality of Ponta Delgada.

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 4th October 2023

Graciosa is an “example island for the use of renewables”. 

The president of the Regional Government of the Azores (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) considered that Graciosa Island is an example in terms of the use of renewable energy, a situation that also places the archipelago as an “example of the energy transition”.

José Manuel Bolieiro, within the scope of the statutory visit to the island of Graciosa, visited the ‘Graciolica’ project today, a hybrid energy system that integrates a wind farm, a photovoltaic plant and a battery plant and, due to its energy production capacity, admitted that it is of “an example of the energy transition” that is being carried out in the Azores.

He mentioned that the island already has a “magnificent” track record in the combined solution of wind and photovoltaic energy and noted that “there are already long periods, magnificent periods, of 100% renewable [energy] use for distribution on the grid”.

“What turns Graciosa into an island that is an example of the use of renewables, decarbonization of our economy, reduction of carbon emissions and, why not say so, also placing the Azores as leaders in the example of energy transition”, he stated.

The head of the Azorean executive highlighted the fact that the executive he leads is trying to ensure that the electrical transition is carried out in production and also in consumption habits, with the transition in electrical consumption, to reduce thermal solutions for daily use in homes, vehicles and industry.

Graciolica’s hybrid energy production system began producing electricity and supplying it to Graciosa Island on August 21, 2019.

During the visit of the president of the Government of the Azores, the operational director of Graciolica, Duarte Silva, informed that the island of Graciosa has, on average, 143 days per year in which the electrical supply is made by renewable energy and, on average, “every three calendar years there is a year” in which the energy consumed is “100% renewable”.

“These numbers, I think make this project unique in the world. Because, in fact, the renewable percentage of 60%, there may eventually be islands that already accompany us, but having a third of the year 100% renewable is a differentiating aspect that we have not yet found in other places”, he declared.

Since the project began operating, 8.9 million liters of diesel have been saved at the Eletricidade dos Açores (EDA) hydroelectric plant and, between July 18, 2019 and August 31, 2023, 8.2 million litres of diesel were saved. millions of euros.

The Graciolica project was supported by the Government of the Azores with 4.5 million euros as non-refundable funds and 2.9 million as refundable funds.

The Government of the Azores ends today a two-day statutory visit to Graciosa Island.

According to the Statute of the Azores, the Regional Government must visit each of the islands in the archipelago at least once a year, with the obligation to meet the Government Council on the island visited.

Dog collected for alleged mistreatment in Ponta Delgada 

An American Pit Bull Terrier dog was collected in Ponta Delgada, in the Azores, on suspicion of “mistreatment and lack of living conditions”, the PSP announced today.

According to the PSP Regional Command, the situation occurred on September 29th in the parish of Fajã de Cima, “with the suspicion that a dog showed clear signs of malnutrition and lack of living conditions”.

The police determined that there was “material of a criminal nature”, having raised “a report for the commission of the crime of mistreatment of pet animals, as well as material of an administrative nature” related to the registration, insurance, vaccination and housing conditions of the animal, reads a statement from the PSP.

Thus, considering “safeguarding the well-being of the canine”, the Police Inspection Brigade, in collaboration with the Municipal Kennel of Ponta Delgada, collected the animal, which is currently “in complete safety and with dignified and adequate nutritional conditions, hygiene and habitability”, adds the PSP.

Altice Portugal and Thothx reactivate teleport on the Azorean Island of São Miguel 

Altice Portugal and ThothX will reactivate a teleport on the island of São Miguel with deep space radar capabilities, the two companies announced today in a joint statement.

According to the companies, the space sector is “considered to have great potential for the future, particularly in the areas of security and space communications, central to this project, which includes the remodelling of a 30-meter telecommunications antenna, located on the island of São Miguel”.

The rehabilitation of the teleport and the conversion of the antenna “will contribute to the observation of space traffic in geostationary orbits and to the safety of European space assets”, says the statement.

“This agreement reinforces, on the one hand, the position of Portugal as a strategic European telecommunications’ ‘hub’ and the Azores archipelago as an Atlantic ‘hub’ for Space and, on the other, Altice’s strategy as a ‘player’ in the communications map and gateway to Europe, connecting continents by space, air, land or submarine”, he adds.

For ThothX, a world leader in the data transmission sector, this project is part of a “global coverage strategy with a 46-meter antenna operational in Canada, the remodelling project for a 30-meter antenna in Australia and the remodelling of the Azores to achieve 95% coverage of geostationary orbits”.

According to the press release, “several Portuguese R&D (research and development) institutions have already signalled interest in a potential future collaboration in radio astronomy studies, an aspect of great importance for the company, whose collaborations with the Canadian academy have been going on for some years”.

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 20th September 2023

CUF Hospital in Lagoa will carry out heart surgery from October onwards, such as coronary valve replacement and bypass placement. 

 There are around 120 patients awaiting heart surgery in the archipelago, and interventions to replace coronary valves or bypass placement will begin at the end of October, no longer requiring patients to travel to the mainland and Madeira.
This will be possible with the protocol that will be signed between the Government of the Region and CUF Açores. Therefore, these surgeries will be carried out from the end of this month at the private hospital, in Lagoa.

With the reinforced capacity, which CUF Açores is now guaranteeing to the Region, there will be cardiac surgery in the Azores which will reduce and even eliminate the list of around 120 patients over time. “It is my deep conviction that by the end of October we will have this offer registered”, stated the President of the Government.

José Manuel Bolieiro left words of “welcome, satisfaction and hope” for the group’s presence in the Region, and defending a “rational and intelligent complementarity” between the private and social sector with the Regional Health Service.

Researchers from the universities of Liverpool and the Azores launch book on earthquakes and volcanoes 

The presentation of the book “Earthquakes and Volcanic Activity on Island: History and contemporary Perspectives from the Azores”, by authors David Chester, Angus Duncan, Rui Coutinho and Nicolau Wallenstein from the universities of Liverpool and the Azores, will take place on the 18th of September , at 6 pm, in amphitheatre VIII on the Ponta Delgada campus of the University of the Azores.

The work represents a synthesis of collaborative work over almost three decades and focuses on the impact and responses to historic earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in the Azores. The study is placed in the contexts of history and geography and the progress made in predicting future events and risk reduction policies. It addresses seismic and volcanic activities throughout the archipelago, based on published scientific research and careful study of historical archival materials. It analyses, in some depth, the tectonics and geology of the islands, making the target audience include all those interested in geology, geography, history and responses to risks in the Azores, having been written for the educated reader, in general, but also for experts in Earth Sciences and Risk Assessment.

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 13th September 2023

False bomb threat at Terceira airport 

The Public Security Police (PSP) was called yesterday morning to a false bomb threat at Lajes Airport, on the island of Terceira.

The alert was given by a Ryanair employee, after an argument with a passenger. However, it was a misunderstanding after the passenger refused to pay an extra baggage fee. After investigations, the police determined that it was not a bomb threat, but rather a conflict between an employee of that company and a passenger who was boarding to Porto.
An official PSP source explained that the passenger, “when confronted with the fact of having to pay the aforementioned fee, disagreed, and at that time told his wife that the Ryanair employee must have thought the suitcase had a bomb in it.”

Madalena invests in reforestation and Environmental Education 

Children from the municipal program “Férias em Movimento” learned, last week, how to plant seed bombs, at the Camping Park and Municipal Patinódromo.

The initiative promoted by the Municipality of Madalena, within the scope of the “Sê-lo Verde” project, had as its main objective to instil in younger people habits that enhance the sustainable development of the municipality, reveals a note from the municipality of Pico.

Furthermore, the initiative also sought to raise awareness, in a playful way, of children about the importance of preserving Nature.

Daisies, poppies, lavender and chamomile make up the colourful carpets of wildflowers that will soon make those two spaces, used during the Madalena Festivals, more attractive and sustainable areas.

This fact, adds the municipality, will allow it to restore its flora and attract pollinators such as bees, butterflies and wasps, essential for maintaining the balance of ecosystems.

Cleaning of Lagoa das Sete Cidades completed in two weeks. 

Work to restore normality on the banks of Lagoa das Setes Cidades, after the bad weather on August 20, is underway and should be completed in the coming weeks.

The materials accumulated on the banks of Lagoa das Sete Cidades appeared as a result of events on August 20^th.