Explainer of the week. All about windows vouchers (and not only)

A minister of the Environment, Maria da Graça Carvalho, revealed on Monday that about 28,000 economically vulnerable families who could not enjoy the Valley Efficiency began to be contacted for the assignment of “vouchers”.

After all, to whom are these “vouchers” and what do they cover? 

The governor said that “the process was simplified” in order to dispense with the intervention of the technical facilitator, a figure created for the implementation of that program financed by the Environmental Fund.

According to the minister, the new Efficiency Valley platform will be opened at the end of November so that the 28,000 families with approved applications can confirm their interest, receive their “vouchers” and exchange with suppliers who have joined the program.

What is the Efficiency Valley Programme and to whom is it intended?

The Efficiency Valley Program (PVE) is designed for supporting economically vulnerable families in combating energy poverty by replacing energy class windows A and heating and/or cooling systems such as heat pumps, solar thermal systems, boilers and solar photovoltaic systems, among others.

Each voucher allocated to beneficiaries is worth EUR 1,300 plus VAT. In the first phase of the program each family was entitled to only one valley, but in the second phase up to three valleys per household were allocated.

A total of 48,131 eligible applications are recorded for the two phases, totaling EUR 28 million paid, according to data released by the Environment Minister on 26 June.

Financed by the PRR, the PVE II was reprogrammed in 2025 and had its initial goal of 80,000 valleys revised at low.

In February, the Association of Energy and Environment Agencies (RNAE) determined, in an ‘email’ addressed to the technical facilitators of the program, the early and immediate closure of the allocation of new valleys, with support for families to be referred to 2027, as Lusa reported.

In the message, the NAE instructed the technical facilitators to give priority to “execution of the already allocated vouchers, and to ensure the completion of the running applications by the end of May 2026”.

The decision surprised technical facilitators and candidate families, as the 28 thousand beneficiaries with completed applications will be without support, both technical and financial.

Part of the initial allocation of EUR 104 million was relocated to the E-Lar programme, also aimed at vulnerable families wishing to exchange gas equipment for more efficient electrical versions.