By Sergio Goncalves
LISBON, April 28 (Reuters) – Portugal’s government on Tuesday announced a 22.6 billion euro ($26.5 billion) investment programme to roll out over nine years, aimed at mitigating risks including climate change and power outages.
The plan was initiated after severe storms hit central mainland Portugal in January and February, causing damage worth an estimated 5.3 billion euros, and a crippling power outage in Spain and Portugal exactly a year ago.
The initiative, named Portugal Transformation, Recovery and Resilience, seeks to strengthen infrastructure, institutions, homes and businesses against threats linked to climate change, energy security, seismic activity and cyberattacks.
It will be 37% funded from the state budget, with private financing accounting for 34% of the total and European funds covering 19%.
Presenting the plan, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said Portugal had been “hit hard in recent years by extreme weather events — droughts, heavy rain, floods and fires — occurring year after year with increasing destructive force”.
“The time to act is now… We need to strengthen the country’s resilience and be better prepared for the future,” he said. “Our goal is to recover in a more resilient way, protecting people, businesses, territories and infrastructure so they can better withstand these risks.”
He highlighted a planned investment of 4 billion euros in electricity and natural gas grids, energy storage and new hydroelectric dams.
The programme will seek to expand the role of insurance and market-based instruments in managing climate-related risks.
In the short term, part of the funds will be channelled into rebuilding homes, factories and critical infrastructure damaged by the storms.
Although the government did not estimate the cost of the worst-ever blackout that hit Spain and Portugal a year ago, Portugal’s industry association AIP said it may have caused losses of more than 2 billion euros to Portuguese companies.
($1 = 0.8538 euros)
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Andrei Khalip and Ros Russell)
