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Energy

The granite-strewn upland scrub of the serra de Leomil in central Portugal, low green heath running up to a rocky skyline under heavy cloud

232 Hectares of Viseu Commonland Leave the Forest Regime for Two Solar Plants. The Replacement Land Covers 232.24.

A decree published on Monday releases a stretch of the serra de Leomil that has been under forest protection since 1954. Two commoner assemblies voted unanimously to put other land in its place, and the developer has five years to build.

The Portugal Brief 22 Sep 2026

A high-voltage transmission pylon and its lines running down a cleared corridor through burnt and regrowing forest in Portugal under a grey sky

Portugal Turns a Reserved Grid Connection Into Something You Can Split, Swap or Hand Back, Starting Today

A gazette supplement published on Monday sets out how to divide, merge, surrender or move a grid capacity reservation. It also obliges the network operators to publish, for the first time, how much capacity is free at every interconnection point.

The Portugal Brief 22 Sep 2026

An aerial view of the Alto Lindoso reservoir in northern Portugal winding between forested hills, with pale drawdown lines marking the exposed shoreline above the water.

The North, Not the South, Is Where Portugal's Water Is Short This Year, and Three Basins Sit Below Their September Average

The Environment Agency's bulletin for 21 September puts national storage at 74 percent, but every basin is above its September average except the Lima, the Vouga and the Mondego. Less hydro means more gas, the minister said, and gas is very expensive.

The Portugal Brief 21 Sep 2026

A BP filling station in Paranhos, Porto, with pumps under a green and white canopy, cars waiting on the forecourt and calcada paving in the foreground

Portugal Lifts the Biodiesel Ceiling in Road Diesel to Ten Percent on 1 October, and Drops the Guarantee of Low-Ethanol Petrol

Decreto-Lei n.º 188/2026 raises the FAME limit in diesel from 7 to 10 percent and makes keeping a 7 percent grade on sale a legal duty backed by a fine. On the petrol side, the obligation to offer a maximum-5-percent-ethanol grade is repealed.

The Portugal Brief 21 Sep 2026

The harbour at Sines in southern Portugal, with fishing boats moored inside a rock breakwater, port warehouses along the quay and cargo ships on the horizon beyond.

Portugal Has Until 12 November to File Its Sines Bid for an EU AI Gigafactory, and German Industry's Worry Is the Paperwork

EuroHPC opened the call on 30 July and closes it at 16:00 on 12 November. Portugal's Sines bid has the cables, the deep-water port and the power. The head of the Luso-German Chamber told ECO this weekend that what worries German investors is the bureaucracy.

The Portugal Brief 19 Sep 2026

Two REN linesmen in yellow high-visibility jackets and red helmets suspended from overhead high-voltage transmission cables against a blue sky with white cloud

Advice on Portugal's Return to the Electricity Grid Operator Came to 100,000 Euros, and the Finance Ministry Answered a Front Page on Saturday to Say So

Caixa Banco de Investimento and Servulo e Associados billed that between them for the 13.7 percent REN stake. The ministry also explains the four million euro gap between what it lent Parpublica and what was paid.

The Portugal Brief 19 Sep 2026

Stone and schist houses packed tightly on a steep hillside in the village of Piódão in central Portugal, with slate roofs, blue painted doors and washing hung out between them.

A Six-Country Survey Finds One in Five in Portugal Cannot Pay for the Energy They Need, and Its League Table Looks Nothing Like the Official One

Researchers at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and Fraunhofer IAO put Portugal at 19 percent, second worst of six countries. On Eurostat's official measure, refreshed on Thursday, Portugal is the worst of the six but Poland is the best.

The Portugal Brief 18 Sep 2026

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