The end of the plant's operation also means the end of about a tenth of the emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, particulates and heavy metals in Portugal, marks Zero.

The association recognizes that the closure of Sines and the other Portuguese coal-fired power plant, in Pego, directly and indirectly affects some 700 workers and regrets that there has been no "dialogue, social consultation and creation of alternative solutions" for these people.

"A plan to promote economic activities linked to the urgent energy transition" that includes workers, unions, municipalities and other entities is fundamental, he argues.

However, "this is not happening, particularly in the case of the announced closure of the Matosinhos refinery," he notes.

Although the closure of these plants will mean job losses, "in the solar-photovoltaic industry alone, at least 20,000 jobs are expected to be created over the next ten years", which is "an opportunity for training and retraining of workers".

The closure of Sines takes place almost ten years earlier than initially foreseen in the Carbon Neutral Roadmap, thus ending the plant which "represented on average 12 percent of total national greenhouse gas emissions each year".

The closure was "a direct consequence of coal market prices, the costs associated with emissions and the competitiveness and availability of other alternatives", the environmental association considers.