Lisbon, July 28, 2025 (Lusa) - The latest edition of the Edifícios + Sustentáveis (More Sustainable Buildings) programme in Portugal, which reimburses expenses for energy efficiency improvements, had 10,000 applications to be assessed at the end of June, out of the 80,000 received, the Government announced on Monday.

“At the end of last month, we had 10,000 left, around 70,000 have been assessed, and we hope very soon to be free, which is really the expression, of this programme, which is a headache for everyone involved,” said the Minister for the Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, at a press conference at the ministry in Lisbon.

The minister pointed out that she inherited this programme from the previous Socialist Party (PS) government, which in 2022 launched a scheme for the reimbursement of expenses for the purchase of equipment to help increase the energy efficiency of buildings, such as solar panels and heat pumps, among others.

This means that families had to pay the expenses up front and then apply for a refund, in a process that Maria da Graça Carvalho described as ‘very complex’, from the application to the assessment.

According to the minister, there were even universities and polytechnic institutes with which the Government signed contracts to respond to the assessments of applications for reimbursement, which “after a few months” gave up because it was such a “lengthy and meticulous” process.

“We hope to announce a programme in the same area in July, […] for some household appliances, and our system will be an agreement with retailers, where people buy from retailers at a discount and the retailer submits the bill to us,” added the minister.

MPE/AYLS // AYLS

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