Renewable Energy Projects in Portugal: New Public Policies to Achieve the 2030 Decarbonisation Targets

In its updated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP 2030), prepared in 2024 and formalised in 2025, Portugal revised its 2030 renewable energy targets, aiming for renewables to reach 51% of gross final energy consumption. The headline electricity goals are 20.8 GW of solar (15.1 GW utility-scale and 5.7 GW decentralised), 10.4 GW of onshore wind and 2.0 GW of offshore wind.

According to Directorate-General for Energy and Geology (DGEG) data, Portugal had 6–7 GW of installed solar capacity and around 6 GW of onshore wind by 2026. While solar deployment includes both utility-scale and decentralised generation, a substantial gap remains relative to the 2030 targets. Closing that gap within the remaining years will require a significant pipeline of new projects, creating a major opportunity for investment and economic growth.

With some of Europe’s strongest solar and wind resources, Portugal is well placed to convert its existing project pipeline into installed capacity, provided that enabling conditions are in place. Realising that potential will depend on making administrative licensing faster and more predictable, while continuing to ensure appropriate environmental and territorial safeguards. To that end, Portugal has advanced two complementary policies: the Sectoral Programme for Renewable Energy Acceleration Zones (PSZAER), currently in public consultation, and Law No 29/2026, published on 23 June 2026 and in force starting on July 1st, which simplifies licensing and promotes decentralised renewable generation.

Both give domestic effect to the same European mandate, namely the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED III), which amends the previous framework and raises the Union’s binding 2030 renewables target to at least 42.5%, with the aspiration to reach 45%. It also requires Member States to implement a range of measures, including streamlined and accelerated permitting processes. The shared objective is to make the deployment and use of renewable energy simpler, faster and more accessible to citizens, businesses, municipalities and local communities.

The EU framework: RED III and the permitting mandate

RED III is the driving force behind Portugal’s reforms. Beyond the 42.5% target, it modernises permitting on two fronts. On the planning side, it requires Member States to identify and map suitable areas for renewable energy deployment and to designate, as a subset, renewables acceleration areas, where projects benefit from streamlined procedures on the basis that environmental impacts are expected to be limited and manageable. The framework also extends to infrastructure, including grid and storage, which must be planned consistently with renewable deployment.

The Directive further establishes the organisation and guiding principles of the permit-granting process, requiring Member States to streamline and coordinate all administrative steps through integrated procedures, applicable both within acceleration areas and outside of them. It is precisely to give effect to these requirements that Portugal’s two policies are best understood, as instruments translating the European framework into practical, investment-ready procedures.

RED III also gives particular attention to small-scale installations and active consumers. For certain categories of projects, notably rooftop solar and similar small installations, permits are subject to very short deadlines. More broadly, renewable energy projects are recognised as serving an overriding public interest and the introduction of single contact points and digital procedures is intended to make the permitting process simpler, faster and more accessible to developers, citizens and local communities.

Law No 29/2026: accelerating decentralised self-consumption

Law No 29/2026 addresses the distributed end of the market by introducing a set of measures aimed at accelerating decentralised renewable self-consumption. In particular, it amends Decree-Law No 15/2022 (which organises the National Electricity System) and the Portuguese Civil Code, and introduces three key pillars: (i) the creation of the renewable energy use contract (contrato de aproveitamento energético renovável – CAER), (ii) the introduction of tacit approval mechanisms in the licensing of self-consumption production units (UPAC), and (iii) the establishment of tools to support aggregation and market participation.

The renewable energy use contract (CAER)

The CAER establishes a statutory framework under which property owners may assign the renewable energy use potential of their assets to third parties. In practice, it enables third-party models whereby a provider can finance, install, own and operate a self-consumption unit (UPAC) of up to 1 MW on another party’s property, including (i) undeveloped urban land; (ii) areas with no recognised aptitude for agricultural, livestock or forestry use; and (iii) rooftops or roof terraces.

The contract may cover both energy production and storage, provided the 1 MW maximum installed capacity is respected, as well as the commercial conditions relating to electricity that is self-consumed, stored or injected into the grid, and must take written form for a term of up to 15 years (renewable once). Service providers are subject to a prior communication to the DGEG, which ensures regulatory oversight of market participants.

By giving these arrangements a defined statutory framework and a clear supervisory anchor, the CAER reduces legal uncertainty and facilitates the development of decentralised renewable energy solutions.

Unless otherwise agreed, a CAER may also be combined with others of similar nature, allowing property owners to make use of multiple surfaces or assets, while respecting the capacity limits for each installation. In practical terms, this regime creates new opportunities for monetising underused property, while expanding access to renewable energy for consumers and communities.

Simpler authorisation: tacit approval and changes in the Civil Code

The law amends Decree-Law No 15/2022 by introducing tacit approval mechanisms in the licensing of self-consumption units (UPAC). This represents a significant simplification of the administrative process for renewable projects. Because a production licence is only required for installations above 1 MW, this tacit-approval mechanism is a meaningful advantage for larger self-consumption projects, not only small-scale ones.

The law also amends Article 1425 of the Civil Code, providing that a simple majority of condominium owners is sufficient to approve the installation and operation of shared renewable energy units. This removes a long-standing governance barrier in multi-apartment buildings and facilitates the development of collective self-consumption projects.

Simpler remuneration

Finally, the law introduces a comparison platform for supplier and aggregator offers, to be operated by the Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE), increasing transparency and facilitating access to market options for self-consumption surplus.

While the broader framework for the sale of surplus electricity remains governed by Decree Law No 15/2022, these measures improve the visibility and accessibility of commercialisation channels for decentralised producers.

Taken together, these measures make it easier and more affordable for a wide range of players, from homeowners and condominiums to retailers and industrial sites, to generate, store and participate in the market for renewable energy. The overall effect is to broaden participation in the energy system and reduce transaction costs associated with decentralised energy solutions.

The PSZAER: a green map for utility-scale projects

The PSZAER, prepared under the coordination of the Mission Structure for the Licensing of Renewable Energy Projects 2030 (EMER 2030), is a national sectoral spatial planning programme that identifies the Renewable Energy Acceleration Zones (ZAER) in which solar and onshore wind projects benefit from streamlined licensing procedures.

The so-called green map, prepared and developed by the National Laboratory for Energy and Geology (LNEG) and presented in May 2026, identified roughly 7% of mainland Portugal as potentially suitable for accelerated deployment. This corresponds to about 371,000 hectares for solar PV and 84,000 hectares for onshore wind. The solar polygons considered in the mapping typically exceed 100 hectares and are located within 10 km of a grid substation. Areas outside ZAER are not excluded from development, but do not benefit from acceleration mechanisms.

The main benefit of the ZAER framework is procedural simplification. Projects located within these zones benefit from coordinated and expedited licensing, supported by a centralised (“one stop shop”) model promoted by EMER 2030, which integrates electrical, environmental and planning components and ensures coordination between authorities such as the DGEG and the Portuguese Environment Agency, alongside municipalities.

In environmental terms, the key feature is that the strategic environmental assessment carried out at programme level allows, in principle, for the dispensing of project-level environmental impact assessment (AIA) within ZAER, without prejudice to compliance with applicable environmental constraints and permitting requirements.

For developers, this single-window and pre-assessed zoning approach is expected to reduce both timelines and transaction costs, while providing greater regulatory visibility and predictability regarding the path to construction.

During its preparation, the programme incorporated input from a wide range of public bodies consulted on matters such as the delimitation of the zones, grid integration, mapping scale and the role of municipalities.

EMER 2030 is incorporating much of this feedback as the text is refined. The process has been contentious rather than smoothly collaborative. Both the programme and the authorities’ opinions remain in public consultation until mid-July 2026, with the shared aim of securing a delimitation that is environmentally robust and socially acceptable.

Opportunities across both tracks

The gap between Portugal’s 2030 targets and its current installed base represents, in commercial terms, a significant opportunity, and the two policies address it at both scales, though neither is yet fully operative.

At utility scale, the ZAER framework provides developers with a key element that has long been lacking: greater spatial and procedural certainty, combined with faster and more predictable permitting. For project finance, a defined outer limit on licensing and a pre-cleared site materially improve bankability, and the regime applies to a sizeable pipeline of solar and onshore wind capacity still to be built.

That pipeline, once the zones are confirmed, translates into construction activity, local employment and investment, much of it in the interior regions where many of the zones lie, bringing land rents, municipal revenue and skilled work to areas that have often experienced population decline.

One caveat belongs in any serious assessment of the scale of this opportunity: official analysis of the proposed zones found that grid connection capacity, not land availability, is the binding constraint. Less than 20% of the territory mapped as suitable for solar sits within realistic reach of available substation capacity.

At distributed scale, Law No 29/2026 unlocks zero-capex, third party-owned solar: specialist providers can put idle rooftops, terraces and low-value land to productive use, while households, condominiums, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and industry obtain cheaper on-site power without upfront cost. It builds on a contracting culture already visible in Portugal’s growing corporate power purchase agreement market.

The simple majority condominium rule opens the multi-apartment buildings that hold much of the country’s untapped rooftop potential; the aggregator platform and last resort regime put surplus energy to use and sharpen competition; and adjacent markets follow: behind-the-meter storage, flexibility and demand-response services, energy-management software and the data services that energy sharing requires. Each of these segments is a business in the making, employing local firms and creating demand for skills in installation, maintenance and digital services.

The wider economic dividend is considerable. Cheaper, locally generated electricity will strengthen the competitiveness of Portuguese industry and services and will make the country more attractive to energy-intensive investment, from advanced manufacturing to data centres.

A larger market supports a domestic value chain of developers, installers, electricians, equipment suppliers and operation and maintenance providers, while energy communities let citizens and municipalities share directly in the returns. Faster, more predictable procedures also lower the cost of capital, helping more projects reach financial close and bringing investment forward. By substituting domestic generation for imported fuels, a larger renewable base also strengthens Portugal’s energy security and trade balance, reinforcing the macroeconomic case for the reforms.

By streamlining the authorisation of energy production and operation, the law shortens the path from decision to construction and widens the range of businesses that can take part. Together, the two tracks point to a deeper and more diversified renewables market — one in which large developers, energy service companies, equipment suppliers, installers and local communities all find room to grow.

Conclusion

Portugal’s route to its 2030 targets runs through administrative modernisation as much as through investment. The PSZAER and Law No 29/2026 are two important pillars of that effort. The first one, once it is finalised, will be able to accelerate utility-scale projects through pre-assessed zones; the other already accelerates distributed self-consumption through a new contract, positive administrative silence and a private law majority rule. Both give national effect to the RED III goal of smoother and faster deployment of renewable energy.

By making the permitting and contracting of renewable projects simpler and more predictable, these reforms aim to convert Portugal’s abundant natural resources into installed capacity, jobs and investment.

Their full benefit will depend on their steady implementation, together with timely decisions, sound environmental planning, close cooperation with municipalities and continued investment in the grid that carries the energy to the market. With all these elements in place, the two policies can become genuine engines of Portugal’s energy transition and of the economic growth that accompanies it over the coming years.