100 Aldeias is Cleanwatts' programme to bring renewable energy communities to villages across Portugal. It started in Miranda do Douro in 2021 with the country's first energy community, where solar power generated locally is shared between neighbouring homes, businesses and public buildings.
100 Aldeias brings the energy community model to rural Portugal. In each village, solar panels are installed on a host roof or plot — a town hall, a company, a farm building — and the electricity they generate is shared among the households and organisations connected to that community. What is not used locally is distributed among the members instead of being sold off the grid, so the value of the energy stays in the village.
The programme began in Miranda do Douro in 2021, when Cleanwatts set up the first renewable energy community in Portugal. It was named after its original ambition: a hundred villages. That target has since been passed, with more than 140 energy communities now operating around the country. The programme was developed in collaboration with About the Energy and holds IIES certification from Portugal Inovação Social.
Villages take part in two ways. As producers, they make a roof or piece of land available for a community installation, which Cleanwatts finances, installs and operates — the village invests nothing. As consumers, residents, small businesses and local institutions buy the shared electricity at prices that are lower and more stable than the open market. For inland villages with an ageing population and rising energy bills, the model is as much about local economy and energy security as it is about emissions.
Our Goal
To give rural villages their own renewable energy: a hundred energy communities across Portugal, each producing and sharing its own solar electricity, so that the benefits of the energy transition reach the places that usually see them last.
Our Wishes
The programme is looking for villages, town halls, companies and farms willing to host a community solar installation, and for residents and local businesses who want to join an existing energy community as consumers.
