The minister, speaking during discussions on the State Budget for next year, said that this request for additional funding was made within the framework of the reprogramming of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).

Maria da Graça Carvalho had already announced earlier in the month that she would request additional funding for the program. On October 6th, the Government announced that the E-Lar program, aimed at replacing gas appliances with electric ones in homes, received approximately 40,000 applications in six days, with the allocated budget of 30 million euros exhausted.

The program was featured on the website of the Environmental Fund, under the Ministry of Environment and Energy, and applications opened on September 30th, closing less than a week later.

The E-Lar program aims to improve the thermal comfort of homes and support families in purchasing efficient equipment and electrifying energy consumption.

During the Budget discussion, the Minister also recalled that, within the framework of the reprogramming of the Sustainable Operational Program, there was a substantial increase in funding for water, with €344 million allocated for water resilience.

Still in the area of ​​water, the Minister said that the Government decided to proceed with the construction of the Sines desalination plant, noting that the works on the Albufeira desalination plant will begin next month.