Electricity prices in Portugal

Portugal produces a large share of its electricity from hydropower, wind and solar, with gas-fired plants filling the gaps, and it shares a wholesale market with Spain. The retail market is liberalised, but households can still opt for a regulated tariff set by the regulator ERSE, and most customers are served by a few large suppliers.

Bills are issued in euro and include a charge for contracted power as well as consumption, with simple, two-period and three-period tariff options that make night-time electricity cheaper. Central heating is uncommon, so homes rely on portable electric heaters, gas and increasingly reversible air-conditioning units, while a social tariff gives discounts to low-income households. Self-consumption solar has grown strongly.