Portugal: SITCE Phase 3, SICE closing 30 September 2026, and the SIAC trap
The PRR window has effectively closed. Portugal 2030 and COMPETE 2030 are the live instruments, and one of their calls shuts eight days from this page's status date.
Dates that are close
Two of the dates below fall inside the next ten days. If either applies to you, read the rest of this page after you have checked the Aviso, not before.
| Date | What happens | Who it affects |
|---|---|---|
| 30 September 2026 | SICE Inovação Produtiva, aviso MPR-2026-6, closes | Portuguese SMEs in the covered territories |
| 29 December 2026 | SIID I&D Empresarial Demonstradores, MPR-2026-7, closes | R&D demonstrator projects |
| 30 December 2026, 18:00 | SITCE MPR-2026-01 Phase 3 closes | Large enterprises only (RCI regime) |
Portuguese dates from the COMPETE 2030 avisos index and the SITCE aviso; Bavarian date from digitalbonus.bayern, read 22 September 2026.
SITCE: EUR 165m, up to 85%, but only Phase 3 is open
SITCE - Descarbonização e Eficiência Energética, aviso MPR-2026-01, funds operations that reduce energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions through equipment replacement, process adaptation or the introduction of low-carbon technologies. Renewables may be included as a complementary element rather than as the object of the project.
- FEDER allocation EUR 165,000,000; national funding of up to EUR 150,000,000 annually.
- Maximum co-financing rate under the Regime Geral: 85%. The RCI rate is negotiated case by case.
- Phase 1 ran 26 January to 27 February 2026 at 18:00 (Regime Geral) and is closed. Phase 2 ran 27 February to 29 May 2026 at 18:00 (Regime Geral) and is closed.
- Phase 3 runs to 30 December 2026 at 18:00 and is RCI, large enterprises only.
- Territory: NUTS II Norte, Centro, Alentejo and Algarve. RCI also covers Lisboa.
The structural point for an SME reading this: the two phases that were open to companies of any size have both closed. An SME cannot enter SITCE through Phase 3. What an SME can do is prepare, because a reopening under the Regime Geral is the most likely next SITCE event, and the evidence a decarbonisation file needs takes weeks of measurement to assemble.
SICE Inovação Produtiva: MPR-2026-6 closes 30 September 2026
The current SICE Inovação Produtiva call is MPR-2026-6, covering Territórios de Baixa Densidade e Outros Territórios, and it closes on 30 September 2026. That date comes from the COMPETE 2030 avisos index read on 22 September 2026.
SICE is the productive-innovation line rather than an energy line. Its earlier call, MPr-2024-2, covered new establishments, capacity expansion, production diversification and fundamental changes to the production process, with a total allocation of EUR 340,000,000, SMEs only. Its rates were a maximum of 40% FEDER co-financing, rising to 50% for medium and 60% for micro and small enterprises in the Alto Alentejo and Beiras e Serra da Estrela sub-regions.
A monitoring project fits SICE only when it is part of a fundamental change to the production process, not when it is presented as an IT purchase. The wording matters: "we are installing software" reads as overhead; "we are changing how this process is controlled, and here is the before-and-after measurement plan" reads as productive innovation.
The SIAC Digitalização trap
SIAC - Digitalização - Transformação Digital das Empresas (COMPETE2030-2026-3) appears on consultant lists as an 85% digitalisation grant with a EUR 2,000,000 budget. Its window ran 31 March to 31 July 2026, republished 23 July 2026, and is now closed.
More importantly, it was never a company route at all. The sole eligible applicant is IAPMEI itself. It is a collective, institutional action: IAPMEI applies, and companies benefit as participants in whatever IAPMEI then delivers. If a funding table hands you SIAC Digitalização as an option for your plant, the table has not been read against the aviso, and you should discount the rest of it accordingly.
The Portuguese routes side by side
| Programme | What it funds | Rate | Ceiling | Status (22 Sep 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SITCE - Descarbonização e Eficiência Energética (MPR-2026-01) | Energy and GHG reduction via equipment replacement, process adaptation, low-carbon technology | Up to 85% FEDER (Regime Geral); RCI negotiated | FEDER envelope EUR 165m | Phase 3 OPEN to 30 Dec 2026, large enterprises only. Regime Geral phases closed |
| SICE - Inovação Produtiva (MPR-2026-6) | New establishments, capacity expansion, diversification, fundamental process change | 2024 call: 40% base, 50% medium, 60% micro and small in named sub-regions | 2024 call allocation EUR 340m | CLOSES 30 SEPTEMBER 2026. Current-call rates must be read in the Aviso |
| SIID - I&D Empresarial Demonstradores (MPR-2026-7) | R&D demonstrator projects | Not read | Not read | OPEN to 29 December 2026 |
| SIAC - Digitalização (COMPETE2030-2026-3) | Collective digital-transformation action | 85% FEDER | EUR 2,000,000 | CLOSED, and IAPMEI is the only eligible applicant |
Sources: compete2030.gov.pt aviso pages and the avisos index, as dated in the status box.
What to do in the next two weeks
- If SICE applies, open the Aviso todayMPR-2026-6 closes on 30 September 2026. Check territory, enterprise size, the current co-financing rate and the eligible-expense list before anything else. The rates on this page are from the 2024 call.
- If you are a large enterprise, check the RCI routeSITCE Phase 3 runs to 30 December 2026 at 18:00 under the RCI regime, where the rate is negotiated rather than fixed. Lisboa is inside RCI territory and outside the Regime Geral territory.
- Measure before the next Regime Geral phaseFour to eight weeks of running time, coded stops, good and rejected parts, and consumption per line where sub-meters exist. A decarbonisation file that cannot normalise energy by output is weak regardless of the rate.
- Read the eligible-expense list yourselfNeither SITCE nor SICE page read itemises expenses. Whether sensors, gateways and software qualify is settled in the Aviso PDF, and that is the only document worth quoting in a board paper.
- Strike SIAC off the listIAPMEI is the only eligible applicant. It is not a route for your plant, whatever a summary table says.
The indicators a Portuguese file needs
| Indicator | Baseline method | Which programme reads it |
|---|---|---|
| Energy per good unit | Sub-meter reading divided by good output over the same window | SITCE: the only energy claim that normalises for production volume |
| Unplanned downtime hours by coded reason | Machine state with reason codes, 4-8 weeks | SICE: evidence that the process, not the purchase, is changing |
| Good output per planned hour | Automatic counts at the machine | Both: the capacity argument in plain numbers |
| Scrap and rework rate | Reject booking at the station | SICE: quality gains an energy-only file leaves out |
| Share of machines with automatic data capture | Count before and after | Both: the measurable part of the digital change |
Method only. What is claimable is set by each Aviso.
These reference sites are published by TEEPTRAK SAS, which sells production-monitoring and OEE software. That is a commercial interest, stated once so you can weigh the page. A month of disciplined manual stop logging, or an integrator already on site, is often the right first move before any software purchase.
One sheet per country with the rate, the caps and the status, an eligibility checklist, and a budget model that applies the cap for you. Excel, no macros.
- All Western Europe programmes compared
- Spain: the 12% innovation deduction and FNEE
- Italy: Transizione 5.0 is closed, Sabatini is not
- Net cost after grant or tax credit
Questions
- When does SICE Inovação Produtiva MPR-2026-6 close?
- 30 September 2026, according to the COMPETE 2030 avisos index read on 22 September 2026. The co-financing rates quoted on most summary pages come from the earlier MPr-2024-2 call and may not apply, so read the MPR-2026-6 Aviso for the rate that binds you.
- Can an SME still apply to SITCE?
- Not through the phase that is open. Phases 1 and 2, which were open to companies of any size under the Regime Geral, closed on 27 February and 29 May 2026. Phase 3, running to 30 December 2026 at 18:00, is the RCI regime and is restricted to large enterprises.
- Does SITCE pay for sensors and monitoring software?
- Not established from the pages read. Neither the COMPETE 2030 aviso page nor the Portugal 2030 article itemises eligible expenses. The Aviso PDF decides, and it has to be read directly.
- Is SIAC Digitalização a grant my company can apply for?
- No. The sole eligible applicant for COMPETE2030-2026-3 is IAPMEI. It is a collective action, not a company grant, and its window closed in July 2026 in any case.
- What can a Portuguese SME do between calls?
- Capture a machine-level baseline of four to eight weeks, rank the losses, express the energy claim per good unit rather than per month, and have the eligible-expense question answered from the Aviso before the next Regime Geral phase opens.
Sources
- COMPETE 2030 - SITCE Descarbonização e Eficiência Energética, MPR-2026-01 (updated 26 February 2026)
- COMPETE 2030 - avisos index (read 22 September 2026)
- COMPETE 2030 - SICE Inovação Produtiva, Outros Territórios (MPr-2024-2, rate reference)
- COMPETE 2030 - SIAC Digitalização, COMPETE2030-2026-3
- Portugal 2030 - incentivos para a eficiência energética e descarbonização (27 January 2026)
Published by TEEPTRAK SAS, which makes production-monitoring and OEE software. Every figure is sourced on the page. Funding rules, standards and reporting duties change: check the official documents before you budget or commit.