Annual Report 2017
Downloadreport
Country Reports

PORTUGAL

Ana Brito e Melo & Antonio Falcão WavEC & Instituto Superior Técnico (IST)

SUPPORTING POLICIES FOR OCEAN ENERGY


NATIONAL STRATEGY

Portugal has a National Ocean Strategy (NOS 2013-2020) to develop its maritime potential, based on knowledge, technological progress and utilisation of its entire maritime territory. In 2017, the Portuguese Government approved the Industrial Strategy for Oceanic Renewable Energies (EI-ERO) with a set of measures for wave energy and floating offshore wind. This follows the Resolution of the Council of Ministers in 2016 (no. 15/2016, of 9 March) which established a Working Group, coordinated by the Minister of the Sea, whose mission was the presentation and promotion of a public discussion of a model for the development of offshore energy in Portugal, with the objective of boosting investment in demonstration projects and pre-commercial projects in this area, with strong involvement of the industry. In this context, the report “Roadmap to an Industrial Strategy for Oceanic Renewable Energies”< was under public discussion between November 2016 and March 2017. A set of actions are proposed, among which the implementation of policies and financial support to accelerate the competitiveness of the Portuguese industry in specific niches of the ocean energy value chain, the financial support for the offshore electrical cable in Viana do Castelo (for the Windfloat 25 MW floating offshore wind project), the creation of a pilot zone in the same region and the development of innovation centres in ports acting as accelerator hubs of ocean energy technologies, as well as linking industry and science.   62530-pt-1.jpg


PUBLIC FUNDING PROGRAMMES
The Portuguese Government has created a new mechanism “Fundo Azul” (Blue Fund) to develop the ocean economy, promote scientific work on the oceans and environmental protection. Tenders were launched in 2017 to award funds to projects from “new entrepreneurs of the sea” and for promotion of renewable energies.