COMPETE — Productive Innovation Incentive System (Sistema de Incentivos à Inovação Produtiva)

STEP — Productive Innovation — Energy (Inovação Produtiva — Energia)

Supports small businesses in mainland Portugal building manufacturing capacity in clean energy and climate technologies.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

STEP Inovacao Produtiva Energia is a competitive grant call administered by IAPMEI — Agencia para a Competitividade e Inovacao — under the COMPETE 2030 programme, which is Portugal's EU structural funds operational programme for competitiveness and internationalisation. IAPMEI is Portugal's national agency for SME competitiveness and innovation and co-manages EU structural funds for Portuguese enterprises. The call was published on 10 February 2026 under the European Union Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) and accepted applications through 30 April 2026 at 17:00 via the Balcao dos Fundos portal (balcaofundosue.pt). The programme supports innovative productive-investment operations that result in the manufacture of tradeable, internationally competitive goods and services with high added value and high national content, contributing to STEP objectives in clean and resource-efficient technologies including carbon-neutral technologies. Eligible investment types include manufacture of final products in critical technology domains, dedicated components and machinery for critical technology production, critical raw materials for those technologies, and associated specialised critical services. Only for-profit SMEs operating in the mainland NUTS II regions of Norte, Centro, and Alentejo are territorially eligible; Lisboa, Algarve, and the autonomous island regions fall outside this call's scope. Nonprofits, universities, research organisations, and individuals are ineligible. Co-financing rates follow standard COMPETE 2030 productive-innovation rules: SMEs cover a minimum 40 to 50 percent of total project cost depending on company size and sub-region, with funding delivered on a reimbursement basis tied to milestone delivery. The 2026 cycle closed on 30 April 2026; the next STEP Energia aviso is expected within the COMPETE 2030 Plano de Avisos for 2026 to 2027.