PORTUGAL IRRIGATION PLAN

The operation will be structured as a framework loan aiming at the expansion and rehabilitation/modernisation of irrigated areas up to approximately 60 000 hectares, as well as the modernisation of off-farm irrigation infrastructure and equipment which will impact on additional 52 000 hectares, in four regions of continental Portugal.

The subprojects under this operation are grouped into the preliminary National Irrigation Programme of Portugal 2020 which aims, among others, at fostering economic development in rural areas and increasing resilience to the effects of climate change. In the investment proposal, subprojects target either the modernisation of existing irrigation schemes with water savings or the expansion of irrigation systems, taking advantage of primary and some secondary infrastructure built several years ago. The majority of the proposed subprojects (59%) are located in the Alentejo region and will be served by the Alqueva system. The promoter expects a substantial number of new jobs in the local agro-food sector to be created in the long term.

Approximately 28% of the project's intervention area involves transformation of agricultural dryland into irrigable land. As such, these parts of the project would be under the provision of Annex II of the EIA Directive 2011/92 EU (as amended by 2014/52/EU) and will be subject to environmental permitting as required. Only subprojects relating irrigation schemes earmarked within the eight river basin management plans (RBMPs) for 2016-2021 and fulfilling sustainability criteria established for irrigation investments in the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) Regulation will be eligible/considered for EIB financing.

Contracts for the implementation of the project will be tendered in accordance with the relevant applicable EU procurement legislation, Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU, and 2014/25/EU, where applicable, as well as Directive 92/13/EEC or 89/665/EEC as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the EU, with publication of tender notices in the Official Journal of the European Union, as and where required.