Portugal's EPAL turns to renewables to achieve emission neutrality

Portugal's capital water supply company EPAL announced on Friday it intends to become the first in its sector to be energy self-sustaining through the use of renewable power.

Local institutions such as INESCTEC, IST, TUV and INEGI are helping EPAL to develop this initiative, it said in a statement.

The company plans to achieve emission neutrality by 2025. For this, EPAL is looking to producing its own energy from hydro, wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) sources, and also take advantage of the storage in its existing water reservoirs.

The company estimates that with this initiative it will be able to offset 38,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This strategy is aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals and the 2050 National Low Carbon Roadmap, the firm stated.

Currently, the water sector in Portugal is responsible for an annual electricity consumption that surpasses 1,000 GWh, which corresponds to more than 2% of the total power demand in the Iberian country.

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