Not quite yet. The program for the tenders to award the Portuguese low-voltage grid ("LV") concessions was announced today by the Portuguese Government, through its Resolution no. 27/2024. However, it refers to end of October a decision on the number of concessions.
The following dates have been set:
- The Portuguese Energy Services Regulatory Authority ("ERSE") has until July 31st, 2024, to provide the municipalities the documentation regarding the assets allocated to the distribution grid;
- The municipalities have until October 31st, 2024, to agree on the creation of intermunicipal concessionaires;
- The municipalities that choose not to be part of a group of concessionaires have until October 31st, 2024, to confirm this intention, and to publish the technical studies on which this decision was based;
- The municipalities included in a group of concessionaries have until March 31st, 2025, to make all resolutions needed to launch the public tenders; an
- At last, the group of concessionaries representative has until June 30th, 2025, to launch the public tender procedure.
After the public debate in recent years, in which, for example, ERSE suggested dividing the continental territory into 3 concessions and the National Association of Municipalities suggested a single concession, the number of tenders and concessions will be definitively decided in October 2024, and the tenders will be launched until June 30th, 2025. We will have to wait for the results of the general elections, scheduled for March 10, to see if this program is kept by the next Portuguese government.