Yesterday, Portuguese Deputy Minister and Secretary of State for Energy, Joao Galamba announced that Portugal will create three technological free zones (ZLT's) with a focus on generating clean and renewable energy.
At a meeting in Viana do Castelo, northern Portugal, during the signing of a memorandum for "the first industrial Renewable Energy Community in the country, he explained that the new plan will include developing one ZLT for offshore oceanic energy, one for onshore energy and another for a combination of agriculture and energy.
ZLT's (Zonas Livres Tecnologicas - Technological Free Zones) are physical spaces for the testing and demonstration of new technologies and innovations, under special legislation and control by regulatory entities.
The aim of the ZLTs is to enable the testing and experimentation of innovative technology-based technologies, products, services and processes, in a real or nearly-real environment, with direct and permanent monitoring by the competent regulatory authorities, namely in terms of testing, providing information, guidelines and recommendations, corresponding to the regulatory sandbox concept.
Galamba said that there will be "a profound review of all legislation in the electricity sector."
"We want to take advantage of the offshore wind potential as much as possible, because Portugal has the most unique conditions in Europe and already has a pilot project," he said, referring to the WindFloat Atlantic project, which made Portugal the first country in Continental Europe to build a floating wind farm on the sea.
