Environment Minister João Pedro Matos Fernandes says he does not understand the European Commission’s decision, on December 31, to include natural and nuclear in the so-called “green taxonomy”, such as the transition changes to funding to comply with the reduction. pledged 55% of European greenhouse gas reduction targets050, in line with the Union’s environmental and climate targets

Asked by Expresso about the rebirth of nuclear energy in Europe, in the context of climate change and the current situation in Ukraine, Matos Fernandes rules out the possibility of Portugal looking down this path: “I don’t have that possibility. In Portugal it makes no sense”.

The Environment Minister reinforces an idea, noting that “Portugal has water, wind and sun to produce 100% of the electricity that is needed, so there is no sense that there is a nuclear power plant in Portugal”.

Regarding the European commitment, he confesses: “I find it difficult to understand this heteronymy of this Commission thinking that nuclear should be within the taxonomy of the investments to be financed, when in such a fair and certain way it fights alongside the Council for the approval of the Climate Law”.

Stressing that he does not want to substitute in the options of each one, he says that “the nuclear to be fulfilled as the country’s goals of substitutions to be replaced, but in Portugal to intend to substitute in the nuclear one would mean to stop doing in the renewable ones”. Which, in his opinion, would be “complete nonsense”. In addition, he adds, “this path does not point to short-term solutions”, since “a nuclear power plant designed today will not be ready in less than 12 to 15 years”.

Matos Fernandes does not deny that “if Portugal has imported more energy from Spain in recent times, having to produce in its combined cycle central plants, which are longer from producing any capacity, it is because electricity in Spain is cheaper , because the nuclear appears”. But he warns that the central price is due to the fact that nuclear plants must be in all amortized energies and that “with prices that do not project into the future, nuclear is profitable”.

In the minister’s view, “we would need to complement fossil fuels so that it can be profitable for energy”.

Asked about the security of supply problems, since renewables have storage problems, starting with the example of solar energy only producing during the day, and making it difficult to ensure 100% of energy production from renewables, Matos Fernandes, remembered that engineers will work in the coming months and well engineer Silva e Silva there are some who will discover an efficient way of working, how this energy will work in the world.

Pointing to gas as “a transitional energy for at least the next 20 years, he says that “we will have the necessary gas and we don’t need anything else”.

• Text: Expresso, POSTAL’s partner newspaper