"We will prioritize small and medium-sized projects, not only large projects, and try to ensure that large projects do not have negative impacts on other areas", in the economy, in agriculture or in the landscape, Maria da Graça Carvalho told Lusa after a meeting with nine environmental defense organizations, which she wants to make habitual.

The minister said that large-scale renewable energy projects are important, even to achieve European and United Nations objectives, but added that small-scale projects have less impact on the environment and also "make people more interested in the transition".

"There is the fact of making it easy for everyone to produce their own energy, in their home, in an industrial park, in a warehouse, and making it simple and easier will be one of our priorities, because it will involve much more the population in the production of clean energy, will 'empower' people and make them take part in this revolution", she justified.

As for hydrogen, the focus will be, she said, on using hydrogen where it is produced, because it is something that is still difficult to transport.

For Maria da Graça Carvalho, the "first focus", taking into account that hydrogen has an important role in the energy transition, is the use of green hydrogen at a local level, mainly for industry, and not for export.

Producing clean hydrogen is "a competitive advantage, to attract industry", said the minister, adding that in the past Portugal had difficulty in attracting industries because electricity was not competitive with the rest of Europe.

"At this moment, hydrogen produced from renewable energies, at a low cost, should be used as a factor of competitiveness to attract industry, attract large industrial ventures that create wealth and employment in Portugal", she defended.

Another priority of the Government, said Maria da Graça Carvalho in the statements to Lusa, is the decarbonization of the transport sector, one of the major responsible for the emission of greenhouse gases, through investment in quality public transport and more railways.

And in water, another concern, the Government is committed to investing in the Algarve, where there is a greater lack of water, and then moving on to the rest of the country.

The investments include, for example, controlling water use, reducing losses, which exceed 50% in some municipalities, reusing more and reinforcing existing facilities.

In the Algarve, the construction of a desalination plant will be accelerated, and the possibility of a water intake in the Pomarão area is being evaluated.

All this, said Maria da Graça Carvalho, will be presented shortly, in coordination with the entire Government.

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