Experiences in Energy Community Implementation

premium account

Recording of Wednesday, June 19, 2024 | The smarter E Europe | Conference Program | Language: English | Duration: 12:46 .

EDP's Head of Business Development Highlights Focus on Energy Communities and SolarDG Expansion with a Goal to be Fully Green by 2030

Margarida Correia Pires, Head of Business Development at EDP, discusses the company's focus on energy communities and their commitment to becoming fully green by the decade's end. EDP is a vertically integrated company present in four global markets, including Asia-Pacific and America. They have installed 2 gigawatts of SolarDG across 15 countries, representing more than 1000 sites. Distributed generation (DG) makes up about 40-50% of new solar capacity investments due to its cost-effectiveness and quick deployment process. EDP installs solar plants on rooftops or customer land; surplus energy not self-consumed is shared with nearby community members within a radius of 2 to 20 kilometers. The initial investment is made by EDP, which charges clients based on self-consumption rates. Portugal’s legislation has facilitated this expansion through flexible regulations, effective stakeholder engagement processes, incentives like exemption from grid tariffs for seven years, and streamlined procedures for converting individual to collective self-consumption systems. Pires emphasizes testing new use cases tailored to client needs as crucial for accelerating adoption—citing an example where multi-site solutions were developed upon client requests.

Automated summarization by AI Conver

Margarida Correia Pires
Head of Business Development
EDP Comercial
Portugal

Energy communities, whose members engage in self-consumption and local energy sharing of renewable energy, offer significant potential. Besides smart energy sharing, members of the community cooperate in energy production and consumption.

The recent energy market revision recognizes the potential of energy communities for reducing grid congestion and promoting local decarbonization efforts, and their contribution to standardizing processes and aligning them with existing structures.

Explore the potential of energy communities, direct citizen involvement and local decarbonization projects that ensure grid security and customer protection.

Further Talks of this session:

Speaker

Savannah Altvater
Head of Distribution & Market Facilitation
Eurelectric
Belgium

To Talk

Speaker

Walter Kreisel
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Founder
neoom
Austria

To Talk

Speaker

José Queirós de Almeida
CEO
Greenvolt Communities

Daniel Maré Dias
Sales Manager
Siemens SA
Portugal

To Talk

Further Content
Thaddäus Kreisig
Stack ’Em Up: Germany’s Big Battery Inflection Point – with Thaddäus Kreisig

The smarter E Podcast Episode 265 | Language: English

September 16, 2026

Discover how Germany's solar surge is driving a gigawatt-scale battery boom, the revenue models making projects viable, and the hurdles ahead.

EM-Power Europe Conference 2023
Demand-side Flexibility: Quantification of the Benefits in the EU

Wednesday, June 14, 2023, 09:00 am - 10:30 am

The smarter E Europe Conference 2023 | Conference Program

free account

Our European energy system is undergoing a major transformation, moving towards decentralization with increased penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) connected to the grid, such as PV solar, battery storage, and EVs. While DERs provide clear benefits such as limiting costs, reducing CO2 emissions, and helping to empower consumers, there are still challenges to overcome to develop DERs to their full potential. This session will focus on best practices and innovative projects, both from a grid and user perspective (e.g. energy communities) and we will discuss how the regulatory framework can be improved to facilitate the penetration of DERs and active participation from consumers.

EM-Power Europe Conference 2023
Democratizing Solar DG - New Business Models - Local Energy Communities (LEC)

Wednesday, June 14, 2023, 09:00 am - 10:30 am

The smarter E Europe Conference 2023 | Conference Program

free account

Our European energy system is undergoing a major transformation, moving towards decentralization with increased penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) connected to the grid, such as PV solar, battery storage, and EVs. While DERs provide clear benefits such as limiting costs, reducing CO2 emissions, and helping to empower consumers, there are still challenges to overcome to develop DERs to their full potential. This session will focus on best practices and innovative projects, both from a grid and user perspective (e.g. energy communities) and we will discuss how the regulatory framework can be improved to facilitate the penetration of DERs and active participation from consumers.

Intersolar Middle East Conference 2026
Cybersecurity in the Digital Energy Transition: Building Resilient Energy Systems

Wednesday, September 02, 2026, 01:15 pm

Intersolar Middle East Conference 2026 | Conference Program

premium account

Discover how advanced digital technologies are transforming solar operations. This session explores AI-driven analytics, IoT-enabled monitoring, and blockchain-based transparency to optimize performance, streamline maintenance, and enhance profitability. Learn how smart grids and data intelligence are shaping the next generation of efficient, resilient solar energy systems.

Intersolar Middle East Conference 2026
Welcome & Keynote: Policy, Regulation & Finance

Wednesday, September 02, 2026, 02:30 pm

Intersolar Middle East Conference 2026 | Conference Program

premium account

This session explores how effective policy frameworks, streamlined regulations, and innovative financing solutions can work together to accelerate the global expansion of solar energy. Bringing together perspectives from policymakers, investors, and industry leaders, it will examine how supportive regulatory environments reduce investment risk, attract private capital, and enable the successful development of solar and hybrid energy projects. Through best practices, emerging funding mechanisms, and real-world case studies, participants will gain practical insights into mobilizing capital, fostering investor confidence, and creating the conditions for sustainable growth across both established and emerging solar markets.

You are using an outdated browser

The website cannot be viewed in this browser. Please open the website in an up-to-date browser such as Edge, Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.