Riopele receives a visit from the Portuguese Prime Minister

On January 13th, Riopele received a visit from Prime Minister António Costa, accompanied by the Minister of Economy, António Costa Silva, and the Minister of the Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, as part of the RRP on Movement and Innovation Mobilising Agendas.

Mário Passos, Mayor of Vila Nova de Famalicão, António Mendonça Mendes, Deputy Secretary of State for the Prime Minister, Pedro Cilínio, Secretary of State for the Economy, and Augusto Lima, Councillor for the Economy, Entrepreneurship and Innovation of the Municipality of Famalicão, were also part of the Prime Minister’s delegation.

Prime Minister António Costa was welcomed at Riopele's biomass plant by Riopele's Chairman, José Alexandre Oliveira, and General Manager José Teixeira, where the Prime Minister was able to observe the investment made in the installation of a biomass boiler. The biomass boiler will reduce gas consumption by 70%, as part of a project within the company's goal to become carbon neutral by 2027.

After the visit, the delegation went to Riopele's unit 1, where a presentation was given as part of the RRP roadmap to learn about the progress of the Lusitano Project, which is part of the Mobilisation Agenda for Business Innovation of the Portuguese textile and clothing industry (ITV).

Led by Nau Verde, the Lusitano Project includes research and development activities, technological and energy measures, as well as solutions for resources management and environmental challenges.

The Lusitano Project involves 17 partners, 13 of which are companies, such as Riopele, Calvelex, Polopique, Paulo de Oliveira and Twintex. In this consortium, Vanguarda, Polywasser and VentilAQUA are the technological partners. The Universities of Minho and Beira Interior, the Instituto Superior Técnico, the Fibrenamics Association - Institute for Innovation in Fibrous Materials and Composites, INESC Microsystems and Nanotechnologies (INESC MN), CENIT - Associative Centre for Textile Intelligence, the FF Association - Fashion and Design Factory of the Future are also part of the consortium.

The RRP roadmap, which takes place every week, with various initiatives spread over several days of the week and extending consistently during the first months of 2023, will cover the entire country, from north to south, from the countryside to the coast. The aim is to verify, in the field, the implementation of projects already underway with the Recovery and Resilience Plan funds.