Renewable energies represented 74.4% of the electricity produced in mainland Portugal between January and August of this year, according to the latest bulletin from the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association. In August alone, renewable incorporation was 69.2%, corresponding to 2,298 gigawatt-hours out of a total of 3,320 GWh produced during the month. The month stood out for the strong contribution and balance between solar energy, which again led production, and wind energy, representing 23.7% and 23.3% of the generation mix, respectively. Hydro technology occupied third place with 14.9%, followed by bioenergy with 7.3%.
Between January and August, 707 non-consecutive hours were recorded when renewable production was sufficient to meet total electricity consumption in mainland Portugal. In August alone, this happened for 14 hours. During the same period, Portugal ranked fourth among the eight European countries analyzed by APREN regarding the share of renewables in electricity production, behind Norway with 97.4%, Denmark with 95.4% and Austria with 79.9%.
Renewable production enabled savings of 809 million euros in natural gas imports and 374 million euros in electricity imports between January and August. APREN also estimates savings of 492 million euros in CO2 emission licenses. The association highlights that the comparison with other countries considers only the main European markets in order to obtain a representative overview.
For the coordinator of Policies and Market Intelligence at APREN, Susana Serôdio, the August results illustrate the value of the complementarity of the electricity mix, with the sun and wind working in harmony to produce almost half of national production. Renewable energies have a proven impact on reducing electricity prices and are already an important driver of the Portuguese economy.
