The marine energy potential maps for mainland Portugal consists of the mapping the main wind and wave parameters for the offshore environment at the height of 100m (offshore wind resource) and at surface (wave energy resource). The offshore wind resource is performed with a sophisticated mesoscale atmospheric model, capable of describing the main wind phenomenology near the Portuguese coast, and contains the mapping of the average wind speed [m/s], Wind Power Flux [W/m2] and the map of the annual number of hours at full capacity NEPS of a standard reference turbine as well as the NEPS maps [h/year] for specific type of bottom-fixed wind turbine systems - "Jacket" and "Monopile" or Floating – WindFloat. The offshore wind resource maps represent the climatology of the wind resource as well as characteristics of the wind phenomenology associated to the land-sea interaction along the Portuguese coast. Regarding the wave energy maps, the estimation of the wave energy resource is based in estimating the main sea-wave characteristics and the wave energy production for standard different wave system types – oscillation water column converter; floating two-body heaving converter bottom-fixed oscillating flap converter. The maps of the wave energy resource are a merging of observational data (boys) and information from the ONDATLAS database as well as data from numerical modeling with the MAR3G model all with 10 years of data . This way the wave energy resource maps describe the main characteristics of the average wave resource for a period of 10 years, which is representative of the sea state climatology of Portugal. All wave energy maps are expressed in [kW/m]. Also, all wind and wave energy resource maps are processed with a high spatial resolution of 1km x 1km from the coast up to the bathymetric of 300m. Some wind and wave energy maps are freely available to download in a course but larger grid area (5Km x 5Km). In time, the offshore wind maps will include higher heights.

The Biomethane Atlas serves to support the identification of the most favorable locations for the implementation of biomethane production units, considering proximity to biogas sources (potential producers), potential consumers, and/or the gas network. It is developed using GIS software for mainland Portugal. The analysis is performed to identify clusters of producers/consumers in proximity, considering the division of the country into a 20km² grid (278 grid squares in mainland Portugal). For each of these, the current potential quantity of biomethane production in m³/year was estimated for the following types of potential producers: (1) Waste and Wastewater: municipal waste landfills, industrial waste landfills, and wastewater treatment plants; (2) Agro-industry: Other food products; Milk; Breweries; Slaughterhouses; Tomatoes; Juices/Salads; Rice husks and Dried fruits; (3) Olive mills and wineries: Olive pomace; Olive mills; Wineries and distilleries; (4) Intensive Livestock Farming: Poultry; Ruminants and Pigs; (5) Agricultural Byproducts: Tomatoes; Corn; Rice paddies; Olive grove pruning; Orchard pruning and Vine pruning. The following potential consumers were considered: (1) Refineries and CCGT Combustion Plants; (2) Industry: Glass; Chemical; Cement; Ceramics; Paper/Cardboard; Agri-food and Textile; (3) Vehicle gas refuelling stations; (4) Autonomous Gas Units; and (5) Injection points in the natural gas grid. A dimensionless index was developed that characterizes each grid square according to its suitability and ranges from 0 to 100 (100 is higher/better). The index can be viewed only for producers, for consumers, and for the combination of producers and consumers. A cell with many potential producers of high volumes of biomethane and potential consumers will have a higher value in the index. The location of production projects and areas with limitations for the application of digestates in soils are also shown. The Atlas does not replace case-by-case analysis of project location or licensing. It should be used for informational purposes only. The scale of analysis used is limited by the resolution and accuracy of the underlying information.

The 3D geological model was created, in the framework of ProMine project, to integrate the geological knowledge of an extensive geophysical and geological research conducted in the Portuguese part of the Iberian Pyrite Belt. It was applied to the 100 x 25 km large Neves Corvo project area. The main purpose of the model was to foresee the existence of other massive sulfide deposits as to the well-known Neves Corvo orebodies. Stratigraphic and structural model based on geological, geophysical and drill hole data produced in the framework of the ProMine project.

The “National Atlas of Sustainable Green H2” is a tool based on georeferenced information that follows defined criteria in the development of scenarios to assess the suitability of the location of green hydrogen production projects with regard to: (i) necessary resources to power hydrogen production plants through water electrolysis; (ii) land use conditions for the implementation of green hydrogen production units, and (iii) factors that enhance the commercialization of the produced hydrogen. Based on this “National Atlas of Sustainable Green H2” tool, we present 4 maps referring to 4 scenarios that identify the “best” areas for green hydrogen production according to the basic rationale of each scenario. The 4 maps represent the following scenarios: scenario A “Diversified”, scenario B “Drought, Gas Grid and Transport”; scenario C “Drought and gas consumers”; scenario D “Prospective”. Each scenario was developed based on 3 sub-indices (i) proximity to water sources, (ii) proximity to energy sources and (iii) ease of commercializing green H2 on the market. The water sub-index consists of a maximum of 7 indicators considering the proximity to the following potential water sources: surface water bodies, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), public water network, groundwater, seawater, multi-purpose irrigation grid, water scarcity index. The energy sub-index consists of a maximum of 6 indicators, namely: solar resource, onshore wind resource, offshore wind resource, proximity to bioelectricity producers, proximity to hydropower producers, proximity to the power grid. Finally, the market sub-index is made up of a maximum of 5 indicators, including proximity to: potential industry consumers of H2, potential transport consumers of H2, potential consumers of H2 as raw material, large CO2 emitters. Each final map excludes from potential project locations land occupation that proves to be inappropriate. The following are not yet considered: easements and public utility restrictions, RAN and REN areas, Territorial Planning Plans, municipality land planning (PDM), SEVESO Directive hazardous zones, protected areas under the Water Framework Directive , seismicity, flood risk and/or geologically unstable areas (erosion, landslides, etc.). This Atlas requires a detailed analysis of sites considering all applicable legislation. The geographic information used has inherent limitations regarding date, scale, resolution and sources. Furthermore, the viability assessment for a specific project requires detailed information that goes beyond the variables contained in this Atlas and considers other decision-making and legal compliance factors, which cannot be considered at this scale.

This work was carried out by the GTAER - Working Group for the Definition of Renewable Energy Acceleration Areas, created by Order no. 11912/2023 of 23 November, and is intended to consolidate and strengthen the previous work carried out to identify the areas with the least sensitivity for the location of renewable electricity production units (solar photovoltaic and wind). The work presented here assessed the potential for implementing these units in natural areas or territories. The process of identifying PRAAs, took into account 5 different scenarios, depending on whether or not the following constraints were excluded: (i) areas relating to aquifers classified as porous or essentially porous, belonging to the western edge and the Tejo-Sado basin; (ii) areas relating to the distance between residential and mixed-use built-up areas and (iii) available RAN (National Agricultural Reserve) and REN (National Ecological Reserve) areas. The areas presented contribute to the definition of future preferential RAAs areas - they do not constitute the formal definition of the RAAs. In future RAAs, the licensing process will be simplified. It should be noted that these areas are not exclusive, and renewable energy units can be implemented in the rest of the territory in accordance with the normal licensing process. The results presented reflect the situation as of February/March 2024.

Geological model of the volcanogenic massive sulfides deposit of Lagoa Salgada (Iberian Pyrite Belt) under the scope of a PhD Thesis.