Today, October 29, Call for Applications POSEUR-01-2015-30 was published for EEM - Electricity Company of Madeira, SA for hydroelectric development of Calheta - Madeira. This Call is part of the Priority Axis 1 of the Programme, which aims to support the transition to an economy with low carbon emissions in all sectors and Investment Priority "Energy production and distribution from renewable sources". Within the power generation and distribution from renewable sources, this investment priority aims to support the development of renewable energy projects, taking advantage of endogenous energy potential while contributing to the diversification of energy sources, reduction of energy dependency in the country, lying in line with the National Action Plan for Renewable Energy (PNAER) and achieving the EU targets.

The remoteness of Madeira and the orographic conditions of its territory implies a high external dependence and investments and higher electricity production costs in conventional systems, to ensure security of supply and meet the quality requirements for the electric power supply. Despite the availability of endogenous energy resources, the fact that the power grid is small and isolated, with no interconnections with other systems, and with large variations in demand between peak hours and off-peak hours, imposes limitations on the integration capacity of renewable energy, because you can not get all the renewable energy available at night at certain times of the year. Thus, the energy associated with a water system storage is a fundamental tool to prevent the loss of renewable energy surpluses and increase the production capacity of endogenous renewable sources, which is aligned with the strategy set out in the Action Plan for Sustainable Energy for Madeira, to increase the contribution of renewable energy resources and promote the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

The period for submission of applications runs until 18:00 on 31 January 2016.