Energy Agency asks Brussels for action on RRP

The president of the Portuguese Agency for Energy has asked Brussels to urgently release new funds from the Recovery and Resilience Fund for energy sector projects.

The President of ADENE, Nelson Lage pressed the European Commissioner Kadri Simson to get Brussels to give the green light for the release of funds at the 8th International Energy Agency World Conference held this week in Paris which was dedicated to energy efficiency.
Portugal has asked Brussels to allow it to reboot its Recovery and Resilience Plan “so that it can advance with new projects that will have an impact on the lives of families and companies”.
“The Government continues to focus on energy efficiency in line with REPowerEU by using financial instruments foreseen in the RRP and in the Environment Fund as part of the reprogramming of the RRP with €120 million of investment to support energy efficiency”, said Lage on behalf of the Minister for the Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, at inter-ministerial meetings held in Paris with the IEA (International Energy Agency) and the OECD.
At the conference, Lage told the business daily Negócios that a new package of €120 million (earmarked to help around 70,000 candidates) bolsters the “investment the Government had made through the More Sustainable Buildings Programme which has been a success to date”.
As to the additional sums requested from Brussels, Lage says that the ball is in Brussels’ court, and that as soon as Lisbon gets a reply “which we are sure will be positive” the Government will launch a fresh call for tender from applicants.
As to meeting EC energy saving targets, the ADENE president says that “Portugal is among the five EU countries with the most robust measures”, and to March has already managed to reduce gas consumption by 14% and is the only EU country to regularly and transparently report its progress on energy saving measures”.