Madeira Faces Gas Supply Disruption as Sines Terminal Strike Looms

The Madeira region in Portugal is facing a potential natural gas supply disruption due to a strike by workers at the Sines LNG terminal, operated by REN Atlântico. The strike, scheduled for August 23-25, has prompted the Government of Madeira to request measures from the Portuguese Government to ensure continuity of supply.

The Regional Secretary for Economy in Madeira, José Manuel Rodrigues, warned that any disruption could compromise the operation of the Vitória Thermal Power Plant (CTV3), which accounts for 35% of thermal energy production capacity in the region. He emphasized that natural gas is essential to the plant's operation and that a supply disruption would have serious consequences for electricity supply security and reliability.

The workers are demanding a pre-retirement scheme to compensate for shift work strain, part of an ongoing protest process since 2012. José Manuel Rodrigues asked the Ministry of Environment and Energy to implement minimum services essential to maintaining gas supply during the strike period.