This programme supports individual productive investment operations within the strategic sectors of the Strategic Technologies Platform for Europe (STEP), focused on the manufacturing of critical technologies and on preserving and reinforcing their associated value chains. The supported investments must fall within the domain of clean and resource-efficient technologies, including carbon-neutral technologies, and contribute to the objectives of the ecological transition.
Eligible operations must be innovative in nature and result in the production of tradable and internationalisable goods and services with high added value and a significant level of national incorporation. The operations must contribute to the objectives of STEP, as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2024/795 of the European Parliament and of the Council, through the manufacturing of critical technologies and/or investments aimed at strengthening their respective value chains in the clean technologies sector.
Requirements
Supported investments must aim at the manufacturing of, within the context of STEP objectives:
a) Final products falling within the domain of critical technologies, as identified in Annex E;
b) Specific components and machinery mainly used in the manufacturing of critical technologies;
c) Critical raw materials relevant to the production of critical technologies;
d) Associated services, including specialised services that are specific and critical to the manufacturing of final products.
These investments must correspond to an initial investment or an initial investment in favour of a new economic activity, as defined in points 49 and 51 of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June, in its current wording, and relate to one or more of the following types of action:
• The establishment of a new facility;
• The diversification of the activity of an existing facility, provided that the new activity is not the same as or similar to the previously carried out activity;
• The diversification of the production of an existing facility into products not previously produced or services not previously provided;
• A fundamental change in the overall production process or in the overall provision of services of an existing facility.
Companies of any size, nature, and legal form, with organised accounting, provided they meet the eligibility requirements set out in Article 14 of Decree-Law No. 20-A/2023 of 22 March, which establishes the general framework for the implementation of Portugal 2030 and its Funds, as well as Articles 6 and 22 of the REITD.
- Eligible beneficiaries include:
- Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs);
- Medium-sized Enterprises;
- Non-SMEs;
- Small Mid Caps.
The indicative total funding allocation for this call is €300,000,000, financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the Productive Innovation – Strategic Technologies (PITD) instrument.
Applications open on 30 January 2026 and close on 30 April 2026 at 17:00 (Lisbon time).
Learn more
For more information, please visit compete2030.gov.pt
