Portugal aims to accelerate investments in green hydrogen projects – crucial to decarbonise the economy – and end compulsory environmental assessments for them in March of next year.

This is according to Portugal’s prime minister Antonio Costa on Thursday.

The country is planning to become a key producer and exporter of green hydrogen with 70 private investors or groups aiming to invest €10 billion.

The plans are part of a package to decrease bureaucracy, which also ends mandatory environmental assessments for solar plants occupying under 100 hectares, Costa stated, as well as for wind farms with towers over 2 kilometres apart, Reuters news agency reports.

The so-called Simplex package has received criticism from environmentalists due to the effects it may have on nature and the well-being of populations. Yet green hydrogen could be an essential source of power that can reduce pollution from steel and chemical industries and heavy long-haul transport.

“Environmental impact assessment and environment license will no longer be necessary (because) we want to create better conditions for investment in green hydrogen production, which is absolutely crucial to accelerate the energy transition and decarbonise the economy,” the prime minister said this week.

Costa added that the present environmental licensing process “has a bureaucratic burden, which increases the context costs and limits the investments.”

Whereas activist NGO GEOTA said, the package may “cause significant damage to the environment.”

The conclusion of environmental assessments was particularly serious because “it could lead to the development of new large photovoltaic solar power plants,” it stated.

Portugal is hopeful that its focus on low-cost wind and solar energy will allow for the production of hydrogen and other renewable gases at more competitive prices.

As it stands, 60% of the country’s electricity consumption stems from renewable sources, yet the government aims to increase this to 80% by 2026.