Some concessions for the lithium exploitation in some mines in Portugal and projects related to the green hydrogen to create clean energy they brought down this Tuesday the Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, who has been implicated in a case of corruption and influence peddling.
The origin of the investigations
The Portuguese Prosecutor’s Office reported this Tuesday that there have been more than 40 registrations and that this investigation focuses on lithium exploitation concessions in the Romano and Barroso minesin the north of the country, in addition to a project for a power production plant from hydrogen and another for the construction of a data center, both in Sines. The magazine ‘Sábado’ revealed at the time that this case was opened after an anonymous complaint in 2019 that indicated that the Portuguese Government had favored Portuguese companies that were part of a consortium to build an industrial green hydrogen project in Sines.
You listen, green hydrogen and favor treatment
In January 2021, information from the weekly ‘Expresso’ reported that the Public Ministry considered a wiretap on the then Portuguese Minister of the Environment suspicious. João Matos Fernandesin which he spoke with Costa, in some investigations about possible irregularities in the green hydrogen business. According to that medium, the Supreme Court of Justice admitted at that time to include the recording in the investigation into a supposed favor treatment from the Costa Government to Portuguese companies in the field of green hydrogen. In that conversation, no evidence of a crime was found and, in it, Costa and Matos Fernandes spoke about the ongoing negotiations to define the location of a green hydrogen project, a lithium refinery, possible interested parties in the business and the possibility of a collaboration with Spain.
Among these supposedly favored companies were Energias de Portugal (EDP), the oil company Galp and RENwhich together with the lusa Martifer and the danish Vestas announced that they had joined together in a consortium to study the creation of a industrial cluster to produce green hydrogen in Sines. The Prosecutor’s Office now suspects influence peddling and of corruption in the projects that were in Sines, a green hydrogen plant and a data center, known as H2Sinesto develop one gigawatt of hydrogen production power, which would serve as fuel for a Galp refinery and other facilities, in addition to generating a surplus for export.
A suspicious lithium award
Related news
In the case of lithium, a concession to the firm is under the focus of researchers Lusoresources of the exploration of this mineral in the area of Montalegre. According to the newspaper ‘Expresso’, the cause also dates back to 2019 when João Galambathen Secretary of Energy and current Minister of Infrastructure, granted Lusorecursos Portugal Lithium authorization to carry out lithium exploration. The television network CNN Portugal has assured that this project, valued at 380 million euros, was awarded to Lusorecursos for a term of 50 years. According to the law, for a company to win an exploration contest for 50 years it must have first carried out prospecting, something that did not happen with Lusorecursos, which raised suspicions that alleged corruption had occurred.
It is not yet clear what the extent of the alleged involvement of Antonio Costa in these projects, although the Portuguese Prosecutor’s Office maintains that several suspects spoke at the time of “unblocking procedures.” For now, the public ministry has issued arrest warrants against the prime minister’s chief of staff, the mayor of Sines and two of his administrators in the company ‘Start Campus’ and against a lawyer, who will be presented to justice for interrogation. They have also been declared ‘arguidos’ (formal suspects, a figure prior to the accusation) Galamba and the president of the Board of Directors of the Portuguese Environment Agency.