The European Commission has approved a €350 million ($380.4 million) funding package to support companies in Portugal that produce solar panels, batteries, heat pumps, and other renewable energy equipment. The plan is designed to support the country’s transition to a net-zero economy.

The European Commission has approved a €350 million Portuguese grant scheme for the production of equipment for renewable energy.

The funds, which will be granted no later than Dec. 31, 2025, will take the form of direct grants. They will be fully financed through the European Commission’s Recovery and Resilience Facility.

Companies in Portugal that produce solar panels, wind turbines, heat-pumps, electrolyzers and equipment for carbon capture usage and storage will all be eligible for funding, as well as companies involved in the extraction of critical raw materials needed for their production.

The grant was approved under the EU State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework, which supports measures in sectors seen as key to accelerating the green transition and reducing fuel dependencies.

A recent statement from the European Commission said that the funding “is necessary, appropriate and proportionate to accelerate the green transition and facilitate the development of certain economic activities” in Portugal.

Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president in charge of competition policy at the European Commission, said that the funding “will provide key support to the production of strategic equipment needed for the transition towards a net-zero economy … The scheme will support these investments without unduly disturbing competition.”

According to figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency, Portugal had deployed 2,536 MW of solar by the end of 2022.

The Portuguese government has set a target for 85% of its electricity to come from renewables by the end of the decade. The country was solely powered by renewables for one weekend in November 2023. In February 2024, the nation's second solar-wind hybrid project was commissioned.