Maria da Graça Carvalho, Minister of Environment and Energy
The Government will “soon” launch a new program to support the acquisition of photovoltaic mini-generation equipment for families, the Environment Minister revealed in parliament.
At the Environment and Energy Committee, the governor explained that the support will similar features to E-Larwith the issuance of ‘vouchers’, intended for the “acquisition of equipment for the production of renewable energy by families”, without, for now, providing further details about the planned allocation.
The minister framed the measure in the country’s strategic investment “in renewable energy and the decarbonization of society”, reinforced in the National Energy and Climate Plan (PNEC 2030), whose revision was approved at the end of 2024.
“The Government has always taken on the challenge of the energy transition as an opportunity to add value to society, the economy, our companies, to attract investment and, above all, to improve people’s lives. Especially the most vulnerable people”, stated the minister in the opening speech of the regulatory hearing.
As an example of this approach, he highlighted the E-Lar program, “to support the acquisition of efficient equipment”, which aims to “combat energy povertythrough clearer and simpler rules”, highlighting that “it does not require advance payments” nor “complex procedures”.
According to the minister, the first phase of E-Lar had an allocation of 30 million euros, while the second phase reached 60.8 million euros, within the scope of the PRR.
“Until last Friday, they had been delivered close to 68 thousand applications and more than 47 thousand ‘vouchers’ were issued”, with the application period still ongoing, he detailed.
The program aims to reinforce the fight against energy poverty and promote thermal comfort in needy homes, encouraging replacement of old equipments by new equipment with lower consumption and the electrification of consumption, through the replacement of gas equipment with electric ones.
The support can be used, for example, in the acquisition of induction and conventional electric hobs, electric ovens or electric water heaters, with beneficiaries with approved applications receiving a ‘voucher’ to support the operation.
The minister also mentioned that the European Commission recently published a report that points to Portugal “as a example in energy renewal and fight against energy poverty”, highlighting the role of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) and measures such as “more than 85 thousand energy renovations in residential buildings”, the launch of the National Energy Poverty Observatory and the creation of “more than 100 Energy Spaces”.
In the field of green mobility, the minister confirmed the opening of a new tender for light electric vehicles. The previous competition, launched in December 2025, had a global allocation of 17.6 million euros and, in the case of light cars, “sold out after six hours for private customers”.
“In view of these numbers, the Government authorized, at the last meeting of the Council of Ministers, the Environmental Fund to open a new competition”, with “an allocation of 20 million euros”.
