“Since the Pego coal-fired thermoelectric plant was closed in 2021, CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions from the energy sector in the municipality of Abrantes have decreased by more than 70%, which can only be great news”, said Ana Abrunhosa.

On the other hand, she indicated that “420 direct and indirect jobs were lost, there were negative effects on the value chain and a significant impact on local economic activities that revolved around the plant”.

The minister, who participated in the conference "Exploring economic diversification and investment opportunities in the Middle Tagus", in Abrantes (Santarém), with a recorded message, assured that the Territorial Plan for a Just Transition of the Middle Tagus, included in the Regional Program from the Center, “comes to respond to these impacts and has 65 million euros at the service of this mission”.

The objective, according to Ana Abrunhosa, is that they are invested in such a way that the region “makes the best possible use of the ongoing transformation” and, if possible, bases its development on “sustainable and profitable economic activities” and “without leaving any of the people who lost their jobs behind.”