Pedro Reis, Minister of Economy
The Ministry of Economy only learned in the last few days that Galp had left the project to build a lithium refinery in Setúbal. The company complains about the lack of financial support and the Government promises “facilitated” financing for the next candidates.
Galp did not notify the Government in advance of its intention to abandon the the Aurora Lithium project for the construction of one in Setúbal.
The Portuguese company knew, since the beginning of the year, that the Swedish company had withdrawn from the project, which made financing it difficult.
Government sources assure that the Executive was not informed of these difficulties.
“The Government, namely the Ministry of Economy, only became aware of the decision to withdraw from Galp in recent weeks, in the window of days in which it was made public”, an official source from the Ministry of Economy told the economic newspaper.
However, the Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, says, cited by Negócios, that after Northvolt’s withdrawal, “everything predicted this outcome” that says to be “sad and worrying”.
Government promises “easy” financing to new candidates
reported the withdrawal of the lithium project to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM) this November, claiming financing difficulties and stressing that, after leaving NorthVolt, he tried to “identify new international partners, but without success”.
But now, the Government guarantees future candidates access to new lines of “facilitated” financing through AICEP (Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal), IAPMEI (Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation) and Banco do Fomento, as highlighted by Negócios.
A source from Banco do Fomento tells the newspaper that there is a “high number of applications for strategic projects” that are being evaluated by the European Union’s European Committee for Critical Raw Materials.
The financing process will therefore be “coordinated by the European Commission, so that the different financing instruments are complementary”, notes the same source.
At this point, the process will be in the second phase with “170 European companies” selected, including the Portuguese one, as reported by Negócios.
