José Apolinário was reacting to the Government's decision to propose to Brussels the reprogramming of the financing of some projects foreseen in the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) and Portugal2030 (PT2030), removing the financing of the Algarve desalination plant project from the RRP.

According to a joint statement from the Ministry of Environment and Energy and the Office of the Deputy Minister for Territorial Cohesion, the reprogramming aims to reduce the risk of non-compliance with the plan's objectives and avoid the loss of funds.

For the president of the CCDR of the Algarve, this is “a natural decision, due to deadlines”, given that some works foreseen in the PRR cannot be carried out and completed within the expected deadline and, therefore, “have to be transferred to the PT2030”.

“What is important is that in this scheme of communicating vessels, between what is done in the PRR and what is passed on to Portugal2030, the region has more investment in water, whether in the cases of the desalination plant and the Pomarão water intake, or whether for storage”, he highlighted.

In the government's statement, it is said that the executive “decided to propose to the European Commission the transfer of financing for the Algarve desalination plant and the Pomarão water intake projects, on the Guadiana, initially foreseen in the RRP, to the Climate Action and Sustainability Programme (Sustainable 2030)”.

This transfer is, therefore, part of the framework for the reprogramming of the PRR and Portugal 2030 funds announced, in which Sustentável 2030 is integrated, and is still in the process of being submitted to Brussels.

The executive argues that the decision to reprogram the funds brings “several advantages”, such as “the increase in the co-participation of community financing for projects, which could reach 85%, the extension of the deadline for the execution of works by two years and a greater flexibility in management”.

The contract for the construction and operation of the future Algarve desalination plant, budgeted at 108 million euros and whose initial construction deadline was the end of 2026, was signed last October.