Producing and sharing renewable energy will become “simpler, faster and more accessible” for individuals, businesses, municipalities and local communities. The new decree-law that simplifies and accelerates collective self-consumption and renewable energy communities — the ways in which citizens, businesses and municipalities can produce, share and jointly manage their own renewable energy — has already been promulgated by the President of the Republic on 5 June 2026, and amends Decree-Law No. 15/2022, of 14 January, as disclosed by the Office of the Minister for the Environment and Energy in a press release.
According to the same source, “the changes respond to what people and promoters have long been asking for: less bureaucracy, more flexibility and lower costs. By producing energy closer to those who consume it, the country reduces dependence on foreign sources and strengthens energy sovereignty; at the same time, it lowers the bills for households and businesses”.
This is already a movement in strong growth. Since April 2025, the number of energy communities connected to the grid increased by 800, reaching 1,218 projects — about double the growth accumulated in the previous two years. With the new rules, the Government aims to accelerate this pace even further, removing administrative barriers and making it easier for people, businesses, municipalities and local communities to produce and share renewable energy.
Among the main changes, the distances allowed between production units and consumers are widened, enabling larger projects with more participants; procedures are simplified, reducing the situations in which it is necessary to consult the network operator; and the entry and exit of participants becomes more agile. Installations of very small scale are exempt from prior authorization up to 800 watts, above the current 700 watts.
For the first time, guiding principles for collective self-consumption are set, which “strengthen transparency, consumer protection and a fair distribution of benefits among participants”. The role of each stakeholder — network operators, managing entities and public administration — “is also clearer, giving more security to those who want to move forward with a project”.
To bring these solutions closer to people, a national map of collective self-consumption projects and energy communities is created, facilitating access for those who wish to join.
The Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, notes that “we want producing and sharing renewable energy to be within reach of everyone — from individuals to businesses, from municipalities to local communities. Every solar panel that comes online means less energy we import and less money we pay to foreign countries. This is how a fair energy transition is achieved, close to the people and in service of the country’s sovereignty”.
These measures are part of a broader strategy to bring energy closer to citizens, which also includes the recent exemption of a portion of the bill (the CIEG) for new projects that come into operation by 2029, comprising a revision of the technical rules for self-consumption and the future Energy Single Window.
Portugal is today a European reference in this domain, having been identified by the European Commission as an example of good practice in promoting self-consumption and energy communities.
With this set of measures, the Government reinforces its commitment to a more participatory energy transition and closer to the people, transforming consumers into active producers of renewable energy.
