Announcement No. 16-A/2026 initiates the public consultation for the exceptional procedure of allocating connection capacity to the RESP throughout the Portuguese mainland territory (see Order No. 1135/2026).
This marks the formal commencement of the exceptional procedure provided for in Decree-Law No. 80/2023, and it is at this moment that interested parties must submit their respective expressions of interest to obtain connection capacity to the RESP for consumption facilities.
The public consultation lasts for 20 working days, counted from the publication date, February 3, in the Official Gazette (Diário da República), representing the only window to submit new requests for consumption capacity while the exceptional procedure is ongoing.
Interested parties must submit a duly completed expression of interest and provide a guarantee in accordance with the defined terms and amounts, under penalty of exclusion from the procedure.
1. Who can participate and how
Interested parties who wish to obtain connection capacity to the RESP for consumption facilities must, by March 3 (considering February 17 as a working day):
(i) Submit an expression of interest; and
(ii) Provide a guarantee.
The expression of interest and the respective proof of the guarantee provision must be submitted to REN exclusively via electronic means by sending them to the following email address: zgp@ren.pt
The expression of interest must be written in Portuguese and electronically signed with a qualified digital signature.
Each expression of interest must pertain to a single consumption facility, and a separate expression must be submitted for each facility.
2. Elements to be submitted
The expression of interest must be accompanied, in particular, by the following elements:
(i) Identification of the interested party:
- Complete identification of the interested party (or company);
- Tax identification number;
- Registered office or domicile;
- Contact details (telephone and unique email address);
- Identification document or permanent certificate;
- Identification code of the expression of interest (composed of the tax identification number of the interested party, followed by a sequential number defined by them).
(ii) Representation (if applicable):
- Identificação dos representantes;
- Identification of the representatives;
- Document proving the powers of representation.
(iii) Characterization of the consumption facility:
- Purpose of consumption;
- Classification as a priority project (if applicable);
- Project timeline and investment plan (must realistically reflect the phased development of the project, with mandatory submission of a schedule up to at least 2035);
- Intended connection capacity (in MVA);
- Time scaling of the actual power needs;
- Location of the facility and georeferencing;
- Intended network and voltage level.
Official documents issued outside Portugal must be duly legalized or apostilled and, when not written in Portuguese, accompanied by a certified translation.
3. Guarantee
Along with the expression of interest, interested parties must provide a guarantee in favor of REN – Rede Elétrica Nacional, S.A., as a safeguard for the execution of the project.
The amount of the guarantee is determined based on the requested capacity, according to the following brackets:
- € 13.500 por MVA, up to 20 MVA;
- €20,250 per MVA, between 20 and 60 MVA;
- € 30.375 per MVA, between 60 and 120 MVA;
- € 35.437,50 per MVA, between 120 and 240 MVA;
- € 40.500 per MVA, above 240 MVA.
The guarantee must be suitable, autonomous, irrevocable, and payable upon first demand, and may take the following forms:
- Bank guarantee;
- Surety insurance; or
- Bank deposit.
Failure to provide the guarantee results in immediate exclusion from the procedure.
If the interested party does not obtain sufficient capacity to meet the needs indicated in the expression of interest, the allocated capacity is forfeited, and the guarantee is returned. Alternatively, the interested party may choose to adjust the project and its respective timeline to the capacity actually allocated. If the allocated capacity is less than requested, it is also possible to request a proportional reduction in the amount of the guarantee.
4. Final note
This public consultation represents a critical moment for investors interested in securing connection capacity to the RESP in Portugal, as access to consumption capacity is concentrated in this procedural window, with the allocation of new capacity suspended outside this framework until the exceptional procedure is concluded.
For more information on the procedure related to HDZ and its practical implications, consult here what we have already written on this matter.