The purpose of this visit was the reinforcement of the importance of planning in areas such as climate and energy, with a view to supporting successful local projects capable of becoming energetic opportunities with the help of the European Union.

Maroš Šefčovič was welcomed by José Manuel Mendonça, Chairman of the Board of INESC TEC, who presented the Institute, its structure and organisation, as well as the existing plans for the main areas of research, namely concerning energy. With this in mind, the Centre for Power and Energy Systems (CPES) was specifically presented by João Peças Lopes, also a member of INESC TEC’s board. Next was a visit to the Smart Grids and Electrical Vehicles Laboratory, whose goal is to develop and implement solutions for managing electrical networks with a strong integration of renewable energy sources (microgeneration) and flexible charges, including charging systems for electric vehicle batteries.

This visit took place simultaneously with the start of the “Clean Energy and Energetic Interconnections” conference, which happened at the Auditorium of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (UP), with an opening by Sebastião Feyo de Azevedo, Rector of UP. The round table that followed focused on “Portugal and the Energetic Interconnections” and had the participation of Carlos Moreira (INESC TEC/FEUP), Ana Estanqueiro (National Laboratory of Energy and Geology), Rodrigo Costa (Electrical Energy Network) and Cristina Portugal (Energy Services Regulatory Authority).

The final debate and closing revolved around European public policies and had the participation of Jorge Seguro Sanches, Secretary of State of Energy of Portugal, Aziz Rabbah, Minister of Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development of Morocco, Rainer Baake, Secretary of State of Energy of Germany, and Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission.

The researchers from INESC TEC mentioned in this news piece are associated with UP-FEUP.