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The offices of the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate and the Secretary of State for the Environment issued today a Joint Order extending several key deadlines in the licensing procedures for projects to produce electricity from renewable energy sources. It should be noted that these deadlines had already been extended in 2022 and 2023.
The reasons given by the Government for this extension relate, among other, to the current geopolitical context caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has caused profound difficulties in supply chains, including shortages of raw materials and delays in the production and distribution of equipment, aggravated by a context of high inflation.
In this context, the Joint Order extends the following deadlines for a further 10 months:
a) Competitive procedure for the allocation of injection capacity reserve in the Public Service Electricity Grid, which took place in 2019 (Solar Auction 2019):
• The deadline for obtaining a license or admitting a prior notice to carry out urban planning operations;
• The deadline for obtaining an operation license.
b) Competitive procedure for the allocation of reserve injection capacity in the Public Service Electricity Grid, which took place in 2020 (Solar Auction 2020):
• The deadline for obtaining a production license;
• The deadline for obtaining a license or admitting a prior notice to carry out urban planning operations;
• The deadline for obtaining an operation license.
c) Competitive procedure for the allocation of reserve injection capacity in the Public Service Electricity Grid, which took place in 2021 (Solar Auction 2021):
• The deadline for obtaining a production license;
• The deadline for starting operations;
• The deadline for approval of the execution project by the Portuguese Environment Agency.
d) For the remaining power plants provided for in Decree-Law no. 15/2022, of January 14th:
• The deadline for obtaining a production license;
• The deadline for obtaining an operation license.
e) For renewable energy source power plants with an installed capacity of 1 MW or less (UPP’s):
• The deadline for obtaining the operation certificate.
The Order takes effect on February 23rd, 2024.
For more information, the Joint Order can be consulted here.
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Today, the Council of Ministers also published information (available on the official website of the Government of the Portuguese Republic) on the approval of a decree-law that will extend the period of validity of the exceptional measures aimed at simplifying the procedures for producing energy from renewable sources.
Without prejudice of confirmation, once the decree-law has been published, we believe that this extension will ensure the continued application of the exceptional measures contained in Decree-Law no. 30-A/2022 of April 18th - which has already been the subject of two amendments - which will expire on the following April 19th.
