The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation has opened a contest to finance the creation of ten citizen-initiated renewable energy communities across Portugal, offering up to 30,000 euros per project to the ten best applications.
The initiative, run in partnership with Coopérnico, a sustainable development cooperative, will provide selected projects with financial support, training, and capacity-building. The contest prioritises applications benefiting low-income families and less populated areas, aiming to broaden access to locally generated clean energy.
Applications remain open until 16 September. The push comes as Portugal seeks to expand decentralised energy production; the country had 333 collective self-consumption projects in operation at the end of 2024.