The minister also said that another coal-fired station at Sines should be closed by 2030 (the date originally slated for both power stations).
“I would like to close them as quickly as possible, but we can only shut down [Sines] without endangering energy security when we have renewable energy sources producing more output”, he said.


“We therefore need to invest about 7 billion in renewable energy sources, particularly solar, which still has a lot of room to grow”, he added.
José Pedro Matos Fernandes recalled that Portugal has to cut its carbon emissions by 85 percent until 2050, and considered that this change is much more than a structural reform.