Portugal offers fast-track areas for wind and solar projects

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, government aims to attract more investment ​in the country that is already one ​of Europe‘s renewable energy leaders.

The Portuguese “Green Map”

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.

What the Portugal did

Portugal’s 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 capacity

Portugal has a 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.