Lisbon, Nov. 3, 2025 (Lusa) - The Portuguese minister for the environment and energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, said on Monday that the gradual phasing out of guaranteed tariffs will reduce electricity costs and open up space for new investments in the energy sector.
During a lunch debate hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Portugal (AmCham Portugal) in Lisbon, the minister explained that the gradual elimination of these guaranteed remuneration contracts will give "greater flexibility" to the electricity system.
Guaranteed tariffs are contracts entered into with renewable energy producers that ensured fixed prices for the sale of electricity for a specified period, with the costs passed on to consumers in the tariffs they pay.
"Every year from now on, we will have a set of guaranteed tariffs that will disappear, giving us a better chance of both creating new instruments and lowering the cost of energy," she said.
According to the minister, the gradual elimination of guaranteed remuneration contracts creates "budgetary and regulatory space" to support the necessary investment in the electricity system, without this implying increases in the price of electricity.
The tariff proposal for 2026 presented by the Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE) forecasts a nominal variation of only 1% in regulated electricity tariffs for households on Normal Low Voltage (BTN), which is lower than the inflation expected for next year, reflecting the stabilisation of costs in the electricity system.
Maria da Graça Carvalho highlighted that security of supply, competitiveness and decarbonisation are the Government's three priorities in the energy sector, stressing that the aim is to simplify and speed up licensing, strengthen the electricity grids and create new "areas of high demand" for connection to the grid in Sines, on the Alentejo coast, Abrantes, in the Santarem region and the centre region coast.
The minister assured that the Government is preparing "simpler and more transparent" legislation that will avoid deadlocks and make processes "faster and more predictable". "The Public Administration cannot be afraid to make decisions. Simplification is the key to solving the problems of investment in energy," she commented.
In the field of decarbonisation, she also mentioned the creation of a "green map" showing the areas of the country with the lowest environmental sensitivity, which will speed up the installation of renewable projects. In such cases, investors will only have to obtain a simplified authorisation, which will take "a few days".
The minister also argued that Portugal remains competitive with other European countries, highlighting access to clean energy, skilled labour and political stability.
"We want to attract more foreign direct investment, particularly from the United States," she said, recalling that the US is one of Portugal's main suppliers of natural gas and one of the largest non-European investors.
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