The draft standard adhesion agreements to the Energy-Intensive Consumers Statute (Estatuto do Cliente Eletrointensivo – “ECE”) were approved by order of the Portuguese Directorate of Energy (DGEG) on 24 June 2025. This new standard agreement will apply to all ECE adhesion requests filed from 2025 onwards.
Adhering Intensive electricity consumers will benefit from ECE’s support measures aimed at reducing final electricity costs and ensuring more competitive conditions compared to similar facilities operating in other EU Member States.
To benefit from the ECE they must submit an application to the DGEG by 15 June of each year, accompanied by the documentation required under Ministerial Order no. 112/2022 (as amended by Ministerial Order no. 203-A/2025/1).
DGEG will issue a decision within 30 days of the application request. If the application if approved, DGEG will send the draft adhesion agreement to the applicant within five days for signature.
The adhesion agreement is valid for four years and may be renewed for an equal period upon submission of a renewal request. For conditional adhesion agreements (for facilities with less than three years of operation), the agreement is valid for three years, after which a request for conversion to a standard adhesion agreement must be submitted.
In both cases, failure to submit the request by 15 June of the final contractual year will result in the termination of the agreement.
For more information on this subject, please refer to our paper on the ECE we published last June, also available in our website.