Crato, Portalegre, Portugal, Sept. 22, 2025 (Lusa) - Construction of the Pisao hydroelectric dam in Portugal's Alto Alentejo region officially began on Monday in the eastern town of Crato, an infrastructure project that the president of the Alto Alentejo Intermunicipal Community considered to be "transformative" and that the local mayor defined as "a paradigm shift."
"It is a very special day for the entire Alto Alentejo region and, above all, for our intermunicipal community. It is proof of the realisation of a project and an investment that has been desired for decades and, fortunately, today we are here to mark this important moment. This is a project that we believe will transform this region," said the president of the Intermunicipal Community of Alto Alentejo (CIMAA), Hugo Hilário.
He was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a visit to the initial works on the primary infrastructure of the Pisão Dam in Crato, in the region of Portalegre, which marked the official start of construction and was attended by the secretary of state for Planning and Regional Development, Hélder Reis.
According to the president of CIMAA, when completed, the dam will provide more than 60% of the energy consumption of the Alto Alentejo region, also enabling the development of sectors such as public water supply, irrigation, tourism, and new crops.
"If there are regions that need transformative investments, ours is undoubtedly one of them. This will also, in my opinion, be a very important step for others to follow and for everyone to realise that, in addition to being a right, we have the capacity to put them into practice. Pisão will certainly be the first major investment in this region, but many others will follow," he said.
Funding for the Pisão Dam project was transferred from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) in March this year to the state budget (OE) and increased from €151 million to €222 million, with a completion deadline of 910 days, specifically by 2027.
"At the moment, it is the largest project led by an intermunicipal community. […] It has been a difficult process, an administratively complex process, which has obviously given us all a lot of work, but which also demonstrates that […] unity, unanimity, and cooperation between the 15 local authorities of Alto Alentejo was, I won't say the secret, but the master key to making all this happen," he added.
The Mayor of Crato also recalled the challenges faced during the "more than 60 years" that passed before construction of the dam began, expressing his conviction that this is "a very important and very interesting project".
"It is a paradigm shift in terms of both agriculture and livestock farming. It also represents hope in terms of energy for this territory and is a boost for the region in terms of what is an investment of around €220 million. It is the largest investment ever made in Alto Alentejo," said Joaquim Diogo.
For the mayor of Crato, "all local authorities" in this territory can benefit from the dam, either directly, with eight districts being “affected” in terms of public supply, or indirectly.
"As Pisão is an area where water from the river Tagus will flow to other dams, they will all benefit indirectly. Then there is also the energy, agriculture and livestock component," he said, considering that for three or four years there will be "a big boom and a financial, economic and employment opportunity" in the Alto Alentejo region, which should be consolidated for the future.
Eager to return to the Pisão Dam "to cut the ribbon" at the inauguration, the secretary of state for Planning and Regional Development also described the work as "structural and fundamental".
In our view, it will change the configuration of this region, which is Alto Alentejo. It is one of the most important projects ever undertaken in Alto Alentejo, one that the population has been eagerly awaiting for many decades," emphasised Hélder Reis.
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