Portugal to offer fast-track areas for wind, solar projects

LISBON, June 17 (Reuters) - Portugal's government on Wednesday launched a process to assign over 1,000 areas for wind and solar projects around existing grid connections, which can be fast-tracked thanks to their low potential for environmental conflicts.

By doing so, the government aims to attract more investment in the country that is already one of Europe's renewable energy leaders.

• The so-called "Green Map" identifies 1,302 priority areas for renewable development - 792 for solar and 510 for wind.

• It is part of a plan to streamline permitting and give developers greater certainty on where projects can be easily built.

• The government opened a public consultation that will run until July 15, seeking input from citizens, municipalities, environmental groups and project developers to refine the plan before taking a final decision.

• The proposed areas lie within 10 km (6.2 miles) of grid connections and were designed from the outset to avoid major licensing constraints, according to Environment Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho.

• Portugal's renewable capacity has expanded steadily over the past decade, with solar rising from about 1 gigawatt in 2016 to nearly 7 GW in 2025, while wind — a longer-established technology — has grown by around 10% to about 5.6 GW.

• Renewable power covered about 80% of Portugal's electricity consumption in the first quarter of 2026.

(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Andrei Khalip and Tomasz Janowski)