| Title | Developing Emergency Response Protocols for the Pico Alto Geothermal Power Plant Facing Volcanic Risk (Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal) |
|---|---|
| Authors | Martins R, Carepa C, Rodrigues F, Franco A, Rangel G |
| Year | 2026 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | |
| Abstract | On June 24, 2022, a seismo-volcanic crisis began in Terceira Island (Azores, Portugal), associated to Santa Bárbara Volcano, located approximately 6,5 km from the Pico Alto Geothermal Power Plant — a binary ORC system using cyclopentane as the working fluid. By the end of 2024, approximately 325 earthquakes had been felt by the local population and the most significant event occurred on January 14, 2024, at 07:19, reaching a magnitude of 4,5. Following the confirmed reactivation of the Santa Bárbara Volcano, the seismic-volcanic alert level was raised to V3 (CIVISA scale, 2012) on June 24, 2024, highlighting a critical gap in the existing emergency response plan from the Pico Alto Geothermal Power Plant: the volcanic eruption risk. In the absence of known national and/or international guidelines specific to binary ORC geothermal facilities under volcanic eruption risk, a new emergency plan had to be developed from scratch. This process drew upon internal expertise from the multidisciplinary technical team at EDA RENOVÁVEIS (physicists, geologists, engineers, and safety professionals). From emotional and stressful days identifying critical intervention points, developing procedures, defining evacuation routes, discussions with local authorities, making logistical improvements (e.g., satellite communications, individual and collective emergency kits) to the progressive downgrade to alert level V2 on December 4, 2024—this paper, beyond recounting the technical and logistical challenges addressed in the emergency plan, pretends to raise awareness within the geothermal community about the need to establish a unified, internationally recognized set of guidelines for emergency planning in the event of seismic-volcanic risk. |