Two Portuguese ambassadors of the European Climate Pact will propose to the Government the creation of a national program of technical and financial support for the formation of renewable energy communities.
According to the responsible authorities, the program will be aimed at municipalities, associations and cooperatives and could be financed by the Environmental Fund.
The proposal from the two ambassadors, Luísa Barateiro and Miguel Macias Sequeira, will be presented in Brussels, at the conference “Together in Action 2026”, the annual European Climate Pact event, which takes place from the 24th to the 25th.
The European Climate Pact is an initiative of the European Commission under the European Green Deal and brings together people determined to act for the climate and to build a cleaner and more resilient Europe, supporting the objective of the European Union becoming climate-neutral by 2050.
In the European Union there are more than 1,200 ambassadors, with Portugal counting around seventy, across all categories. Every year there is a “Together in Action” meeting to discuss the future of European climate policy.
This year the ambassadors chosen to present a communication will advocate for a greater emphasis on renewable energy communities.
The two, according to a Climate Pact document, will underline the recent alert from the European Court of Auditors that places Portugal among the countries with the worst performance in this area, with only 0.8% of municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants having a registered energy community.
“The ambassadors of the European Climate Pact will appeal in Brussels to the State Secretary for Energy, Jean Barroca, for the Portuguese Government to create a mechanism of technical, legal and financial support that helps citizens form energy communities in the neighborhoods where they live,” states the document.
The Portuguese proposal, “From energy consumers to energy communities: A practical guide to powering the just transition,” suggests that the financing program be nationwide in scope and managed by the Ministry of Environment and Energy.
“Similar to what happens in other European countries, we propose that the government launch a support program aimed at local entities that want to create energy communities,” said Miguel Macias Sequeira, ambassador and researcher at CENSE – Center for Research in Environment and Sustainability, of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of NOVA University Lisbon.
Miguel Macias Sequeira and Luísa Barateiro consider, according to the document, that there is among Portuguese municipalities and civil society the willingness to establish collective projects for the production and sharing of solar energy.
“The capacity of citizen organizations is fragile on this topic but, by collaborating with municipal councils and parish councils, it could be easier for them to take the first steps toward establishing these models, especially if there is specialized support,” added Miguel Macias Sequeira.
In Brussels, the two ambassadors will describe what they consider a national success story, the Renewable Energy Community of Telheiras/Lumiar, in Lisbon, which could be replicated across the country and in other European cities.
They will explain that, after a long licensing period, the production and sharing of renewable energy has been taking place since June of last year, and that the project includes the installation of solar panels on two public buildings, with investment from the Parish Council and the other members, and the sharing of the energy produced with about 70 local consumers, including families, small businesses, condominiums, and the municipality.
The Court of Auditors’ report, released last Monday, highlights that “the potential remains untapped” in energy communities and says that the European Union has achieved only 27% of the objective of having, by 2025, at least one energy community per municipality with more than 10,000 inhabitants. Portugal is well below the average, not even reaching 1%.
The report notes that governments have not created the necessary conditions to support energy communities.
Last year, the Environmental Fund approved 112 projects to strengthen the production and shared consumption of energy, with total funding of 19.1 million euros.
“By supporting these projects we are empowering municipalities, universities, small businesses and citizens to take an active role in the production and management of the energy they consume. This is the right path for an energy transition with territorial and social cohesion,” said at the time the Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho.
