Azores: EDA chief rejects building its own fuel oil storage, after an €8.5 million ERSE compensation

The chairman of the board of Eletricidade dos Açores (EDA), Paulo André, on Tuesday, 3 November, rejected the idea that the archipelago’s electricity company should build its own fuel oil storage for the islands’ thermal power plants. Building its own infrastructure “would bring extra costs for the regulatory system”, he said, according to the Lusa news agency, before the Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, Environment and Sustainable Development of the Azores Legislative Assembly, meeting in Ponta Delgada.

What was said. Paulo André said an investment of its own “is not the most effective solution” and that the market should provide the answer. He explained that most of EDA’s tenders for fuel oil supply received no bids, and the only bid, submitted in the fourth procedure, was rejected because it exceeded the value in the tender specifications; a direct award followed. According to him, the company had no other way to ensure that fuel supply and electricity provision on the islands were not interrupted.

The figures. The hearing was urgently requested by Left Bloc MP António Lima, who says EDA loses €9 million every year. The sole supplier is Bencom, of the Bensaude group, which owns 39% of EDA. In 2025 the regulator ERSE transferred €8.5 million to EDA to offset the extra cost of fuel oil, described the situation as “exceptional” and required the company to show it is attracting more competition.

Context. At an earlier hearing, ERSE president Pedro Verdelho said EDA paid almost €9 million above the level the regulatory formula considers efficient, but that it has not been proven that it favoured Bencom. According to Açoriano Oriental, ERSE intended to recognise 95% of that loss in tariffs, and Verdelho warned that without tariff convergence, consumers in the Azores would pay roughly double. The Left Bloc notes that between 2009 and 2021 ERSE did not recognise more than €22 million of fuel costs passed on by Bencom to EDA.

What next. ERSE and the Competition Authority are investigating EDA’s fuel oil purchases and have not yet reached a decision. The two bodies are also assessing whether there are barriers to accessing the archipelago’s fuel logistics infrastructure.