+100% of Portugal's Energy in March was Renewable!

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+100% of Portugal's Energy in March was Renewable!

April 13, 2018

Portugal seeing results in its efforts to be a world leader in renewable energy production. After years of investment in research and further developing its wind farms and hydroelectric dams, Portugal is stepping towards its target of running self-sufficiently on renewable energies.

The continues to put its name on the world stage, with a long list of accolades awarded for excelling in various industries including tourism, wine production and now - Renewable energy!

Reports from APREN (the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association) state that last month, Portugal produced more than enough renewable energy to meet the electrical demands of the entire country - 103.6% to be exact! The second highest level of 99.2% was set in 2014.

The main sources of the energy production were hydroelectric dams, which accounted for 55%, while 42% was created through wind farms.

“It is expected that by 2040 the production of renewable electricity will be able to guarantee, in a cost-effective way, the total annual electricity consumption of Mainland Portugal”, says APREN.

Only a decade ago Portugal announced the opening of the world’s first wave farm facility in the town of Agucadoura. Since that time Portugal has made substantial investments in to research and development of renewable energy, now we are starting to see the results even at a consumer level. This year’s consumer electricity price is around ten percent lower than that of 2017’s!

Last Tuesday, the Portuguese government also moved to suspend annual subsidies to the tune of €20 million - most of which would have gone to fossil fuel plants which are now running on standby mode.

For the majority of nations worldwide, a fully renewable energy supply still seems a long way off. Some smaller islands have managed it, but rarely do larger countries produce such high levels of renewable energy. In fact, this achievement comes almost one year after Portugal ran the entire country on renewable energy for 107 hours straight!

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