Government advances with Green Industrial Strategy to attract investment

Na statement, the Government indicated that it intends, through this planned economic agenda by 2040, to identify the measures necessary to overcome the constraints on investment, taking advantage of the “clear competitive advantages”, namely an energetic price 30% lower than the EU average.

“The Green Industrial Strategy, whose order determining its development came into force on 25 June, will identify priority value chains and their decarbonization potential and the opportunities for technological, industrial and economic investment associated with green industrialization”, reads the document.

The executive aims to boost new value chains such as the green heavy industries, decarbonized steel, the electrification of the economy, energy storage, renewable gases, capture and use of carbon, electrical mobility and batteries.

“Portugal has unique conditions to transform energy into a real strategic asset, these conditions place the country in a privileged position in the new European industrial geography,” said Minister of Economics and Territorial Cohesion Castro Almeida, quoted in the statement.

The priority is to capture the economic value of the energy transition, “taking advantage of energy to reduce operational costs, increase productivity and strengthen the competitiveness of national companies”, and according to the Government, “energy is no longer just a cost factor to assert itself as a central strategic asset to value creation and investment attraction”.

“This Strategy will speed up the progressive replacement of fossil fuels by electrifying and using renewable gases, while promoting carbon capture, use and storage technologies in sectors where emissions are most difficult to eliminate,” said Environment and Energy Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho, also quoted in the statement.

The proposal will be developed by entities such as the Agency for Energy (ADENE) and the Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (IAPMEI), in collaboration with the National Laboratory for Energy and Geology (LNEG), the Agency for the Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal (AICEP) and the Directorate-General for Economics (DGE), with strong articulation with the business and scientific fabric.