Implementation, operation, and management of electric energy production models for selfconsumption with the involvement of municipalities

Abstract

This article aims to outline the legal and regulatory framework applicable to the implementation, operation, and management of individual self-consumption (autoconsumo individual – “ACI”), collective selfconsumption (autoconsumo coletivo – “ACC”), renewable energy communities (comunidades de energia renovável – “CER”), and citizen communities for energy (comunidades de cidadãos para a energia – “CCE”), with the involvement of municipalities, in order to determine how private economic operators can operate within these models. The article considers the following three levels of municipal participation: a) the municipality acting as an individual self-consumer (ACI model) or as a member of ACC, CER, or CCE to be established or already established, without being the owner of the properties where decentralized production systems are intended to be installed; b) the municipality acting as an individual selfconsumer (ACI model) or as a member of ACC, CER, or CCE to be established or already established, being the owner of the properties where decentralized production systems are intended to be installed; and c) the municipality only acting as the owner of the properties where ACI, ACC, CER, or CCE intend to install decentralized production systems.