Joining a Renewable Energy Community in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

• You rent or own a home without a suitable roof and want cheaper solar power from nearby panels.
• Your neighbours, building, or council has invited you to join a shared solar scheme.
• You want to set up a scheme with neighbours and need to know how it works.

Not for you if: you want panels on your own roof for your own use. Read "Installing Solar Panels for Self-Consumption in Portugal".

You do not need your own panels to use solar power. In Portugal you can join a group that shares the output of nearby panels with its members. You keep your electricity supplier. Your bill falls for the power the group shares with you. The members must sit close to the panels, usually within 2 km. By law, leaving is free. A new member is added once the national energy directorate (DGEG) and the grid operator approve. No official processing time is published.

The two ways to share solar power

The law gives you two models. Both share power over the normal grid, measured by smart meters.

• A shared self-consumption scheme (autoconsumo coletivo). Two or more homes or businesses share one or more solar systems. A managing entity (entidade gestora do autoconsumo coletivo, EGAC) runs it. This can be a member, the condominium administrator, or a company. Written internal rules are compulsory.
• A renewable energy community (comunidade de energia renovável, CER). This is a legal body, such as an association, a cooperative, or a company, with its own statutes. Membership is open and voluntary. People, businesses, and councils can join. Its main aim must be environmental, economic, or social benefit for members or the local area, not profit. The community can act as its own managing entity.

A third type, the citizen energy community, works like a renewable community but may also use non-renewable sources.

DGEG says more than 1,000 shared schemes and communities were running when it last updated its page.

Who can join

You can join as a member who only uses the power. You do not need to own any panels. Whether a group accepts you depends on its internal rules or statutes. The law says:

• access to a community must not carry unjustified or discriminatory conditions;
• communities must be open to low-income and vulnerable households;
• a community run by a public body, such as a council, must make room for vulnerable households and try to give them at least 10% of the shared power.

You must also be close enough to the panels. On the low-voltage grid that serves homes, your home must be within 2 km of the scheme's main solar system, or connected to the same substation. The distance doubles in officially low-density areas. DGEG can accept wider projects run by public bodies, for example a council's scheme for public services.

You need a smart meter. Without one you cannot join a community. If you are not sure you have one, ask the grid operator, E-Redes. The law puts the cost of these meters on the grid operator, which recovers it through network charges.

These rules cover mainland Portugal. The Azores and Madeira register schemes with their own regional energy departments.

How to find a scheme and join

1. Look for schemes near you. DGEG publishes a map of approved shared schemes and communities. The state energy savings portal, Poupa Energia, lists registered managing entities and communities. Your council or parish may also run or back one.
2. Ask for the documents. For a shared scheme, ask for the internal rules. For a community, ask for the statutes and any internal rules.
3. Read them before you sign. Check the points in the next section.
4. Sign up with the managing entity. You will usually be asked to authorise the use of your consumption data. E-Redes needs this signed authorisation for each new member.
5. Wait for approval. The managing entity emails DGEG to add you. DGEG checks the request, then the grid operator checks that you can be included. DGEG then adds you to the register and tells the managing entity. Only one change of members can be in progress at a time.

What to check in the rules

By law, the internal rules of a shared scheme must say at least:

• how new members join and how members leave;
• how decisions are taken, and by what majority;
• how the solar power is shared out;
• who pays the network charges, and how;
• what happens to unused power, and how any income is used.

Read the rules on cost closely. The law says members answer jointly for the scheme's legal duties. Ask who owns the panels, who insures them, and who pays for repairs. Civil liability insurance is compulsory once a system is installed.

How the power is shared and billed

The grid operator measures every member's use in 15-minute periods. In each period, it deducts your share of the solar power from what you took from the grid. The managing entity chooses the sharing method:

• fixed shares, for example 20% to each of five homes;
• in proportion to use, so a bigger user gets more;
• by groups, with priority inside each group first;
• dynamic shares, set by the managing entity after use is measured.

If the managing entity does not tell the grid operator a method, the grid operator splits the power in proportion to measured use. Solar power left over after sharing goes to the managing entity, which can sell it.

After joining you usually get two bills each month:

• one from your supplier, for the power you still take from the grid;
• one from the community or managing entity, for the solar power shared with you. It can include management costs.

The idea is that the two bills together cost less than your old single bill. Ask for a written estimate before you join.

Shared power that travels over the public grid pays network access charges, set by the electricity regulator (ERSE). Government orders have exempted qualifying shared schemes and communities from part of these charges for seven years from start-up. Each order covers projects that start within set dates. DGEG checks who qualifies, so ask whether your scheme does.

Leaving a scheme

You can leave. The law says leaving is free and carries no charge for the change. A community must let any member leave, as long as the member has met the obligations they agreed to. Check the notice period in the rules. The managing entity then asks DGEG to remove you. A scheme must always keep at least one producer and two users.

You keep your own supply contract and your choice of supplier throughout.

Setting up a scheme with your neighbours

1. Form the group. You need at least two homes or businesses close to the panels.
2. Choose the model. A shared scheme is simpler. A community needs a legal body with statutes.
3. Appoint a managing entity. In a block of flats, this can be the condominium administrator.
4. Write the internal rules. ADENE, the energy agency, publishes a model on Poupa Energia. The rules must be uploaded to DGEG's platform within three months of the system starting.
5. Use a certified installer. Every system over 800 W needs one.
6. Register on DGEG's online portal (Portal do Autoconsumo e CER). There are separate forms for a shared scheme and for a community.
7. Register the members with E-Redes. The managing entity uses E-Redes' online area for managing entities.

In a block of flats, see "How a Condominium (Condomínio) Works in Portugal" for owners' meetings and votes.

If something goes wrong

Raise a problem with the managing entity first. The law treats consumer disputes about shared power under the same complaint rules as electricity. ERSE explains how to complain, including through the online complaints book (Livro de Reclamações). For questions about the rules, ADENE runs information services for anyone in a shared scheme or community.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

• Diário da República, Decreto-Lei n.º 99/2024, de 3 de dezembro, republishing Decreto-Lei n.º 15/2022 in full: articles 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 185, 187, 189, 190 and 191 (closeness rule, internal rules, managing entity, joint liability, sharing methods and default, consumer rights, open access, free exit, community definition, ADENE information duties, complaints) (Portuguese only)
• Diário da República, Decreto-Lei n.º 130/2026, de 29 de junho, amending articles 83, 84, 86, 87, 186 and 189 of Decreto-Lei n.º 15/2022 (2 km from the main system or same substation, 800 W installer rule, internal rules uploaded within three months, sharing disputes, public-body communities and the 10% aim for vulnerable households) (Portuguese only)
• Direção-Geral de Energia e Geologia, 5. Autoconsumo Coletivo e CER (portal registration, adding and removing members, minimum of one producer and two users, more than 1,000 projects running, map of approved projects, DL 130/2026 in force 28 August 2026) (Portuguese only)
• Direção-Geral de Energia e Geologia, Map of approved shared self-consumption projects and communities (Portuguese only)
• Direção-Geral de Energia e Geologia, Despacho n.º 1177/2024, de 31 de janeiro (seven-year exemption from general economic interest costs for qualifying projects, DGEG checks eligibility) (Portuguese only; DGEG's copy of the Diário da República text)
• ERSE, FAQ do regime de autoconsumo, May 2025 (members keep their supplier, sharing methods, 15-minute periods, surplus to the managing entity, network charges, exemption under a 2025 order, Azores and Madeira bodies) (Portuguese only)
• ERSE, Pedido de informação e reclamação (how to complain, electronic complaints book) (Portuguese only)
• Poupa Energia (ADENE), Comunidades de Energia (shared scheme and community compared, model internal rules) (Portuguese only)
• Poupa Energia (ADENE), Dúvidas Autoconsumo (smart meter needed to join, meter costs, two bills, joining without producing, adding and removing members) (Portuguese only)
• Poupa Energia (ADENE), Autoconsumo (four models, citizen energy communities, compulsory civil liability insurance) (Portuguese only)
• Poupa Energia (ADENE), Promotores Comunidades de Energia (registered managing entities and communities) (Portuguese only)
• E-Redes, Gestor de Autoconsumo (managing entity area, member registration form, third-party data authorisation) (Portuguese only; the grid operator's own service)

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.