Allocation Of €350 Million! EU Approves Portugal's Renewable Energy Manufacturing Funding Program

According to foreign media reports, the European Commission recently approved a 350 million euro funding program to support the production of renewable energy equipment and components in Portugal.

The funding will be disbursed in the form of direct grants until the end of 2025 and will be financed by the European Commission's Recovery and Rehabilitation Fund.

Portuguese manufacturers of photovoltaic modules, wind turbines, heat pumps, electrolyzers, and equipment for the use and storage of carbon capture, as well as companies involved in the extraction of key raw materials needed for their production, will be eligible for this funding.

The funding was approved under the EU's Interim Crisis and Transition Framework for State Aid, which supports measures seen as key sectors for accelerating the green transition and reducing fuel dependency.

In a recent statement, the European Commission said the funding was necessary and appropriate to accelerate Portugal's green transition and promote the development of certain economic activities.

Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission's Executive Vice President for Competition Policy, said, "The funding will provide key support for the production of strategic equipment needed in Portugal to make the transition to a net-zero emissions economy ...... The program will support these investments."

According to data released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), 2,536MW of PV systems were installed in Portugal by the end of 2022.

The Portuguese government has also set an energy transition target that by the end of 2030, 85% of the country's electricity will come from renewable sources. In February 2024, Portugal's second hybrid PV-wind power project was commissioned.