Self-Consumption

Code

The Decree-Law no. 15/2022, of 14 January, establishes the organization and functioning of the national electric system (SEN) and incorporated provisions regarding self-consumption of renewable energy.

The collective self-consumption model is based in the association of consumers and generation units in proximity in order to share energy. The Managing Entity for Collective Self-Consumption (EGAC) is assigned by the participants and it represents the collective self-consumption before operators and administrative entities. The regulation accounts EGAC for the relation with the grid operator, for the purpose of management of the sharing of energy and availability of the generation data as well as the relation with the aggregator for the selling of the self-consumption surplus.

While sharing energy within a collective self-consumption the measured consumption in the meter of the consumer unit does not match the supplied consumption anymore, because it is discounted of the energy shared with the self-consumer. On the other hand, if the generation unit is interconnected with the consumer unit by means of the public grid, it is necessary to pay the grid access tariffs on the value of the shared energy (self-consumption thru the public grid). This payment is owed by EGAC to the grid operator.

Decree-Law no. 15/2022 refers to the Self-consumption Code, approved by ERSE, which includes subjects such as the commercial relationships between parties in self-consumption, metering and data handling, energy sharing methods in collective self-consumption and energy communities and applicable regulated tariffs.

The Code also covers issues regarding the Commercial Relations Code, the Smart Grid Services' Code and in the Guide for Measurement, Readings and Data handling, which, because of the particularities of self-consumption regime, need a specific regulatory framework.

RAC was approved by Regulation no. 815/2023, of 27 July, following Public Consultation no 113. The previous versions can be consulted at ERSE's Normative Acts.

Self-consumption Code – only available in Portuguese

Other legal instruments

Tariffs and prices for electricity applicable to self-consumption, set by ERSE, are available in the area of tariffs and prices of the portal.

The Instruction no. 3/2020, of 20^th of July, approves the terms and conditions for acquisition of electricity by the supplier of last resort from producers, according to article 288^th of Decree-Law no. 15/2022, also applicable to the generation surplus from self-consumption injected into the grid.

ERSE approved the terms and conditions for use of the networks for self-consumption using the public service electric network (RESP) by Directive no. 12/2022, of 19^th of May, published in the Republic Diary.

The regulated price for the urgent installation of a meter, under the self-consumption regime, provided for in paragraph 7 of article 95 of Decree-Law no. 15/2022, was approved through Directive no. 19/2022.

Pilot-Projects

The Self-consumption Code for electricity allows the development of pilot-projects. ERSE approves these projects that must comply with:

The project can be submitted to ERSE by any entity;
The project must aim for testing the technical and economic viability and the use of new practices and technologies, including legal and regulatory development proposals;
The promotor shall communicate publically the projects’ goals and results;
The promotor shall submit follow up reports to ERSE, for monitoring purposes.

The list for approved pilot-projects is available here.