Over the past 40 years, the Portuguese economy has grown 2% per year, something Anacleto considers "positive," but far from reaching the European average. Several challenges contribute to this, including Portugal's low GDP within the European Union, its limited access to capital, and the fact that other countries are able to invest more heavily and at a higher volume, according to a report by ECO.

"Today, we believe we are already on a very positive path, but if we acted on three major fronts – in structural industries, in new arenas, and leveraging all the potential of automation and artificial intelligence – we could aim to double our GDP in the next 15 years," estimates the consultancy, in the words of André Anacleto.

The McKinsey partner presented these estimates at the Elecpor annual meeting, taking place in Lisbon.

The consultancy estimates that the energy transition alone could bring the country a 15% increase in GDP and create 300,000 new jobs, 20% of which would be highly skilled.

The McKinsey partner states that "Portugal has the natural conditions to lead" this transition in Europe, already boasting electricity prices 30% below the European average. But "although we are taking the right steps in the right direction, we are probably not doing so as quickly as we could," he warns.

The consultancy believes there are four ways to capture this opportunity: accelerating the implementation of renewables, implementing and implementing large ecosystem-mobilizing projects, and decarbonizing and revitalizing existing industries, preparing them for the future while simultaneously developing new ones. In this regard, it highlights the opportunity in emerging sectors such as electric vehicles, batteries, data centers, and, for example, green steel.