The city brings together a set of unique factors in Europe: it is close to the main international maritime routes, has a deep-water port and large-scale industrial land. Among projects already contracted or in the prospecting phase, Sines is preparing to welcome investments in the energy, industrial and digital sectors. Galp, Repsol, Start Campus, Calb or Madoqua are part of an investment pipeline that promises to transform the region.
When Vasco da Gama left the Portuguese coast for India, he opened a new route in world trade. More than 500 years later, his homeland of Sines is preparing to raise 25 billion euros in investment over the next five years. According to Aicep Global Parques, the pipeline of 30 projects scheduled for completion by 2031 are promoted by 53 companies/consortia, coming from 10 countries, with 13 being Projects of Potential National Interest (PIN). In terms of job creation, 4,577 direct jobs and 6,903 temporary jobs will be created. “Sines brings together a set of factors that are very difficult to find simultaneously in Europe. First of all, its geostrategic location on the Atlantic façade, close to the main international maritime routes. Also noteworthy is the Port of Sines, a highly competitive deep-water port prepared for large logistical and energy flows. Added to this is the availability of large-scale industrial land, access to energy infrastructure and industrial water, as well as particularly favorable conditions for the development of projects linked to the energy transition, industry and the digital economy”, says Isabel Cardoso, CEO of Aicep Global Parques (AGP), the entity managing the 3306 hectares of ZILS – Zona Industrial e Logística de Sines.
An unprecedented wave of investment is underway. The largest deals for the region cover strategic sectors such as energy, industry and digital and range from the expansion of industrial units to state-of-the-art data centers. The Spanish multinational Repsol is investing more than two billion euros in the expansion of its industrial unit through the Alba, NextGen and H2 projects. This reinforcement will significantly increase the complex’s capacity and consolidate its position as one of the most advanced industrial facilities in Europe. Galp also has two ongoing projects based on the production of green hydrogen, H2Park and HVO. The latter, in partnership with Japan’s Mitsui, will make it possible to produce hydrogenated vegetable oil and sustainable aviation fuel, with a planned annual capacity of 270 tons, using refinery waste and green hydrogen produced on site.
According to data from the Bank of Portugal, the stock of foreign direct investment in Portugal today exceeds 200 billion euros, around 70% of GDP, having more than doubled in recent decades. A relevant part of this investment seeks locations with industrial scale, logistical infrastructure and competitive energy – precisely the conditions that territories like Sines offer.
It is in this context that emblematic investments such as Calb emerge. The Chinese company, the world’s top 10 producer of lithium batteries for electric vehicles, is installing a 15 Gwh industrial unit, an investment of more than two billion euros. Production, focused on batteries for electric mobility and energy storage systems, will be mainly destined for export to northern Europe. Madoqua, a Dutch-Danish-Portuguese consortium, intends to produce hydrogen and green ammonia for export and national consumption. And, with an investment of more than three billion, the Swedish company Stegra intends to install a unit to produce green steel based on renewable hydrogen. Piggybacking on these are other investments on the table, such as that of the Spanish Catalyxx, the Danish Topsoe or the American Google, with the Nuvem project, a transatlantic submarine cable between Sines and the East Coast of the USA. This industrial and technological drive places talent at the center of the region’s development. “The issue of talent is absolutely central to the development of Sines. We have, since the beginning, technical training institutions such as ETLA – Escola Tecnológica do Litoral Alentejano, which play a very relevant role in the training of specialized staff. In terms of higher education, the creation of the Escola Superior de Sustentabilidade, Indústria e Tecnologias Digitais de Sines, of the Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal, was recently approved, precisely to reinforce the qualification of professionals in the industrial, logistics, energy and digital areas”, explains Isabel Cardoso, CEO of Aicep Global Parques (AGP).
In the digital sector, Start Campus is developing and operating the Sines Data Campus, a 1.2 GW data center in Portugal, creating one of the largest and most sustainable data ecosystems in Europe and representing an investment of nine billion euros. The Irish company EllaLink also chose this city to develop its submarine cable network, offering low latency solutions between Brazil and Portugal. At the beginning of this month, Portugal and Spain advanced a joint application to install a European Artificial Intelligence Gigafactory, an eight billion euro project that provides infrastructure in both countries to reinforce the technological and digital capacity of the Iberian Peninsula. “More than a fixed number, these values mainly reflect the strong international interest that the Sines industrial ecosystem is currently generating”, adds Isabel Cardoso.
Anchor for investments
The deep-water Port of Sines (28 meters) is the anchor for most of these investments and continues to be a centerpiece of national imports and exports. Responsible for more than 50% of the cargo moved in Portugal (42 million tons of goods) it has the capacity to admit all types of ships, ensuring that production has direct access to international markets. Furthermore, it is crucial for the country’s energy capacity: 96% of the natural gas consumed in Portugal enters through the terminal operated by REN and receives practically all petroleum products for the Galp refinery, which supplies 90% of the fuels consumed in the country. “We have more than 20 connections to international ports and, therefore, interaction with the whole world”, says Pedro do Ó Ramos, president of the Board of Directors of the Ports of Sines and Algarve (APS), to Jornal Económico (JE). The Port of Sines handles 65 container trains per week and, currently, the construction of a new connection to Spain is nearing completion, which reduces travel time by 3h30m, with 750 meter trains along the entire route. The port also has digital processes that allow it to simplify and accelerate port operations through JUL (Single Logistics Window). On average, authorizations to start operations are granted 2.5 days before the ship arrives, allowing greater logistical predictability. “The maritime transport industry is actively looking for new fuels to reduce its environmental footprint and achieve decarbonization goals. To meet this need, Sines intends to be a port with the capacity to supply these new fuels to ships and become part of the so-called ‘Green Corridors'”, explains the manager. Pedro do Ó Ramos also revealed plans to invest 10 million euros in building 50 to 70 new homes on port authority land.
13 thousand people live in Sines, in addition to another six thousand who arrive every day to work. According to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), the city is among the municipalities that record the highest average salaries in the country – 2180 euros, with an increase of almost 23% in a decade. For the president of Sines City Council, Álvaro Beijinha, in addition to the lack of houses, where the rent for a two-bedroom apartment exceeds two thousand euros per month, the cost of living in Sines has been increasing “brutally”. The mayor estimates that more than R$1 billion in investment will be needed to build two to three thousand houses in five to ten years. JE knows that companies and city hall have requested the creation of a Mission Structure dedicated to the territory. “We have an increasingly high cost of living, whether in housing or restaurants”, says Álvaro Beijinha. To survive these ‘growing pains’ it is necessary to complete the direct road connection to the A2, which should only be ready at the end of the decade, and the railway line for passengers.
