Getting Your Property Connected to the Grid in Porto and Greater Porto

Who Does What: Us, E-Redes and Your Energy Supplier

This is the part that causes the most misunderstandings, so it is worth getting straight. We build and certify the installation on the inside of your property, up to the riser box or the point of supply. E-Redes, the distribution grid operator, makes the physical connection and fits the meter. The supplier — EDP Comercial, Galp, Endesa or whichever you choose — is simply the company that sells you the energy and sends you the bill.

The practical upshot is that choosing a particular supplier does not speed up the connection, and switching supplier later does not require any change to the installation. These are separate layers, and the only one we work on is the first. If you are used to a single utility handling everything, as in some other countries, this split is the thing to keep in mind.

Once this is clear, it also becomes clear where the real delays lie: almost never in the internal installation, and almost always in coordinating the different requests and in incomplete paperwork.

How Much Power to Contract, and Why Not the Maximum

Contracted power is paid for every single day of the year, whether you use it or not. It is the fixed charge on your bill. Contracting too much is one of the decisions that wastes the most money over the years, and it is very easy to avoid.

For an ordinary home, 3.45 or 6.9 kVA is enough. You move up to 10.35 kVA when an induction hob, air conditioning, a heat pump or electric car charging all need to run alongside each other. Above that, we are usually already talking about non-domestic use or a detached house with a lot of equipment running at once.

There is also an alternative that hardly anyone suggests: instead of raising your contracted power because of an electric car, fit a dynamic load balancer that turns the charging down whenever the house is drawing power. See our page on wallbox and EV charging — the savings over two years usually pay for the device.

What Holds Up a Connection

In order of frequency: an address or site description given incorrectly on the request, especially in buildings where the flats have been renumbered or in detached houses without an official street number; out-of-date property documents; and the point of supply not being accessible or ready on the day the grid crew turns up.

None of these is a technical problem, and every one of them can be sorted out beforehand. That is why we check the paperwork at the same time as the electrical survey rather than afterwards — it is the step that saves the most time and the one most often skipped. For buyers who have just completed on a property, it is worth having the deeds and the caderneta predial (the property tax record) to hand at the visit.

When a job requires a technician qualified for medium voltage — high power demands or a dedicated substation — we say so at the first visit and coordinate with an external technician. We would rather tell you on day one than discover it halfway through. In a new house, or one that has been disconnected for many years, the document most often missing is the installation form — our guide to the ficha eletrotécnica explains when it is asked for and who signs it.

Single-Phase or Three-Phase: a Decision You Make Once

The vast majority of homes are single-phase, and that is perfectly adequate. Three-phase makes sense when some equipment demands it — certain heat pumps, machinery in a shop or workshop, car charging above 7.4 kW — or when the power you need is high enough that single-phase would be stretched.

What matters is knowing that changing later is not a small job: it means altering the supply, the consumer unit and often the building riser, and the cost bears no resemblance to doing it from the outset. It is a decision taken once, at the time of connection, which is why we always ask what you expect to have in the house five years from now, not just today.

In shops, cafés and restaurants the conversation is different: refrigeration and kitchen equipment usually require three-phase from day one, and sizing the supply only for what opens now is the most common reason for a second round of works the following year.

Who makes the physical connection to the grid?

The connection from the grid to the property is carried out by E-Redes, the distribution grid operator. What we do is prepare the internal installation and the documents you need to request that connection. Without them, the request will not move forward.

Do I need certification to take out an electricity contract?

Yes. For a new connection, or reconnection after building work, the supplier requires proof that the installation complies with the rules. We take care of that part.

How long does the whole process take?

The part that depends on us, the installation and the paperwork, is sorted in a few days. The timescales of E-Redes and of the supplier vary with the type of connection and the area, and they are the slowest part.

Do you handle increases in contracted power?

We check whether your consumer unit and installation can support the power you want to contract and make any changes needed. The increase itself is requested from your supplier, and we tell you exactly what to ask for.

How long does it take once everything is ready on my side?

The part we control, the installation and certification, is done in days. The time for the connection itself depends on the grid operator and varies considerably with the area and the time of year. We will tell you the usual order of magnitude, but we don't promise dates that are out of our hands.

Can I change supplier afterwards?

Yes, at any time, without touching the installation. The supplier is only the company that bills you for the energy. The meter and the physical connection belong to the grid operator and stay the same.

It's a house with no connection at all. Where do I start?

With a visit. We need to see where a point of supply could go, how far it is from there to the consumer unit and what the grid has available at that spot. Those three things change the quote completely and cannot be assessed over the phone.

I already have a meter but it has been disconnected for years. Do I need to start from scratch?

Not from scratch, but you do need certification: an installation that has been disconnected for a long time must be checked before a new contract. In practice that means a visit, the tests and the technical form, plus whatever corrections turn up, which in most cases are few.

Can I get more power without any building work?

Up to certain limits, yes, as it is simply a change to the contract. Above that, the installation has to be able to handle the new power, which brings in the consumer unit, the size of the supply cable and certification. We check what you have before you apply, so you don't pay for an increase the installation cannot cope with.