Microgeneration Law (Application Decree Law 118-A/2010)

Country / jurisdiction: Portugal · Year: 2010 · Status: In force · Level: National · Type: Voluntary

The Microgeneration Law regulates the microproduction of electricity from renewable energy sources. It provides for a simplified licensing regime for local grid connected, low-voltage, small/residential renewable energy producers. Any entity that has a contract for purchasing electricity can be a producer of electricity from renewable energy sources, covering solar, wind, hydro, cogeneration, biomass, and fuel cells using hydrogen from renewable energy microproduction. Licensing is conducted through the internet, via the System of Registration of Microproducers (SRM), an electronic platform through with producers register their installations. Micro producers cannot inject more than 50 % of the power mentioned in the purchasing contract, limited to 3.68 kW, except in the case of installations for condominiums. There are two types of feed-in tariffs: General Regime - The tariff is equal to the cost of electricity sold under the purchasing contract Bonified Tariff - a special reference tariff is defined during the first 5 years following the installation. The reference tariff for the first 10 MW installed is defined as EUR 650/MWh and decreases 5 % for each additional 10 MW registered in the SRM. The reference tariff applies differently depending on the renewable energy technology used. It is 100% for solar (i.e., the full EUR 650/MWh), 70% for wind, 30% for hydro, cogeneration and biomass. For fuel cells, the tariff is the one that applies to the renewable energy source used for hydrogen production. As of October 2010, the Decree Law 118-A/2010 modifies some aspects of Microgeneration Law DL 363/2007 . This amendment intends to support the generation of electricity from renewable sources in Low voltage systems by simplifying the application procedure. The new regulation increases the annual ceiling for installation to 25 MW per year and streamlines the access to the Micro Production regime for public, social, education, defense and local institutions. Moreover, the Bonified Regime is adjusted to the cost of equipments used in the Micro production and can only be accesssed under certain conditions, namely the compliance with energy efficiency measures and the use of solar thermal collectors or biomass boilers. An incentive is also provided for State Laboratories in order to increase R&D in this field.

Official source: http://www.renovaveisnahora.pt