Flores port rebuild reaches 42.7 million euros in spending

The Government of the Azores has spent 42.7 million euros on the new port of Lajes das Flores up to the end of the second quarter of 2026. Hurricane Lorenzo destroyed the old port in October 2019, and storm Efrain hit it again in December 2022.

Of that sum, 14.5 million euros was spent up to the end of last year and 28.2 million euros in the first six months of 2026: 18.8 million in the first quarter and 9.4 million in the second. The figures come from the quarterly report on Hurricane Lorenzo recovery, which the public company Portos dos Açores prepared and the government delivered to the Legislative Assembly of the Azores.

The regional government puts the total planned investment at 191.5 million euros and calls the port the largest public works project under way in the Azores. Financing was approved on 3 January 2025. A joint statement from the national Ministries of Environment and Energy and of Infrastructure and Housing gives the total cost as 197,059,825 euros, with 167,500,851 euros from the Cohesion Fund.

The contract, with a 60-month execution period, was awarded on 17 April 2025. The work extends the breakwater protection by 95 metres and builds a new quay 170 metres long and 40 metres wide. It also includes dredging the quay area, a building for port operations and work on the port's technical networks. In August the government said repairs of the hurricane damage were 57% complete in financial terms and that the port will be finished by April 2030.

Elsewhere, the breakwater of the São Mateus fishing port on Terceira is being strengthened, and a project to protect the Porto Pim bay on Faial is in public consultation. On Pico, tenders for the outer protection of the port of Ribeiras and for a protective wall beside the road at Lajido da Criação Velha received no bids.

acorianooriental.pt

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