Renewable energy in Portugal was the source for 25.7% of total energy consumption in 2013. [1] In 2014, 27% of Portugal's energy needs were supplied by renewable sources. [2] In 2016, 28% of final energy consumption in Portugal came from renewable sources. [3]
Portugal aims to be climate neutral by 2050 and to cover 80% of its electricity consumption with renewables by 2030. [4]
In 2018, Portugal committed to close all of the country's coal producing facilities by 2030, making it almost completely reliant on renewable energy in the coming years. [5] As of 2019, coal still provided 40% of Portugal's electricity needs. [4] The last Portuguese coal power plant closed on 19 November 2021. [6]
In 2001, the Portuguese government launched a new energy policy instrument – the E4 Programme (Energy efficiency and Endogenous Energies), consisting of a set of multiple, diversified measures aimed at promoting a consistent, integrated approach to energy supply and demand. By promoting energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy (endogenous) sources, the programme sought to upgrade the competitiveness of the Portuguese economy and to modernize the country's social fabric, while preserving the environment by reducing gas emissions, especially the carbon dioxide. [7]
While from 2002 to 2007 the main priorities were focused on the introduction of natural gas (aiming at progressively replacing oil and coal in the energy balance) and liberalization of the energy market (by opening this former state-owned sector to competition and private investment), the emphasis shifted for the next 5 years was on energy efficiency (supply and demand sides) and use of endogenous (renewable) energy. [7]
During February 2016, an equivalent to 95% of electricity consumed in Portugal was produced by renewable sources such as biomass, hydropower, wind power and solar power. A total of 4139 GWh was produced by these sources. [8] In May 2016, all of Portugal's electricity was produced renewably for a period of over four days, a landmark achievement for a modern European country. [9]
The renewable energy produced in Portugal fell from 55.5% of the total electricity produced in 2016 to 41.8% in 2017, due to the drought of 2017, which severely affected the production of hydro electricity. [10] The sources of the renewable energy that was produced in Portugal in 2017 were Wind power with 21.6% of the total (up from 20.7% in 2016), Hydro power with 13.3% (down from 28.1% in 2016), Bioenergy with 5.1% (same as in 2016), Solar power with 1.6% (up from 1.4% in 2016), Geothermal energy with 0.4% (up from 0.3% in 2016) and a small amount of Wave power in the Azores. 24% of the energy produced in the Azores is geothermal. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]
On July 14, 2020, EDP announced it would be closing the country's largest coal-fired power station, in Sines, by January 2021. [16] [17] In effect, Sines's power plant was closed on the 15th of January 2021, nearly ten years earlier than initially forecasted. The plant was responsible for 12% of all greenhouse emissions in Portugal, and its closure meant the biggest decrease in polluting emissions in the country's history. The Pego coal plant was the only coal-fired facility functioning until 19 November 2021 when it too was shut down.
It is estimated that around 20,000 jobs will be created until 2030 in the solar-photovoltaic industry alone, with EDP having announced an investment of 24 billion Euros in the renewable industry until 2026, most of which directed at wind, solar and green hydrogen production. [18] [19] [20]
As of 2020, hydroelectricity accounted for 28% of the total amount of electricity produced in Portugal from renewable sources. [21]
The largest hydroelectric power station is at the Alto Lindoso dam, with a capacity of 630 MW. Portugal has about 100 small hydro systems, with a capacity of 256 MW, which produce 815 GWh/year. [22]
At the end of 2018, wind power capacity in Continental Portugal was 5,368 MW. [23] In 2020, wind powered energy was responsible for 24% of electricity production. [21]
Portugal combines wind and hydropower by using nighttime winds to pump water uphill and sending the water back through generators to produce power the next day; the so-called Pumped-storage hydroelectricity. [24]
At the end of 2018, solar power had a total installed capacity of 828 MW. [25] It represented 2.2% of total power generation in 2019. [26]
Portugal's main investment for the use of this type of energy is in the Azores. Small scale use of this energy source began in the 1980s in Chaves and S. Pedro do Sul, Continental Portugal providing 3 MWt.
In the Azores the use of Geothermal energy is widespread, with production in 8 of the 9 Islands, collectively producing some 235.5 MWt. In 2003, 25% of the electricity consumed in São Miguel was produced by geothermal energy.
Aguçadoura Wave Farm was the world's first commercial wave farm when it opened on 23 September 2008. It was located three miles (5 km) offshore near Póvoa de Varzim north of Porto. The farm used three Pelamis wave energy converters to convert the motion of the ocean surface waves into electricity. [27] [28] The wave farm was shut down in November 2008, just over two months after the official opening. [29] [30]
In the 2010s, a local company, Wave Roller installed many devices along the coast to make use of the water power. [31]
In 2011, Portugal produced 45 ktoe (Kiloton of Oil Equivalent) of biogas. [32]
EDP - Energias de Portugal is a Portuguese electric utilities company, headquartered in Lisbon. It was founded in 1976 through the merger of 14 nationalised electricity companies.
Renewable energy plays an important and growing role in the energy system of the European Union. The Europe 2020 strategy included a target of reaching 20% of gross final energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020, and at least 32% by 2030. The EU27 reached 22% in 2020, up from 9.6% in 2004. These figures are based on energy use in all its forms across all three main sectors, the heating and cooling sector, the electricity sector, and the transport sector.
As of 2018, renewable energy accounted for 79% of the domestically produced electricity used in Brazil.
Brazil is the 10th largest energy consumer in the world and the largest in South America. At the same time, it is an important oil and gas producer in the region and the world's second largest ethanol fuel producer. The government agencies responsible for energy policy are the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the National Council for Energy Policy (CNPE), the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) and the National Agency of Electricity (ANEEL). State-owned companies Petrobras and Eletrobras are the major players in Brazil's energy sector, as well as Latin America's.
Wind power is a major source of electricity in Portugal. At the end of 2020, wind power capacity in Continental Portugal was 5,456 MW. In 2020, wind power represented 23.7% of total electricity generation.
Solar power is a growing source in the Portuguese energy mix. At the end of 2020, solar power installed capacity totalled 1.03 GW and represented 3.6% of total power generation in 2020.
Portugal is a producer of geothermal power, and their main investment is in the Azores. While electricity is only produced on São Miguel, Azores, direct-use applications are also at Chaves in northern Portugal, and at S. Pedro do Sul in central Portugal and at the Lisbon Air Force Hospital.
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EDP Renováveis is a renewable energy company registered in Oviedo and headquartered in Madrid that designs, develops, manages and operates power plants that generate electricity using renewable energy sources.
The EDP Peştera Wind Farm is located in Peștera a commune in the Constanța County of Romania. Costing €200 million, the wind farm consists of 30 three-bladed Danish wind turbines, each capable of generating 3 megawatts (MW) of power, giving a total output of 90 MW. The EDP Peştera Wind Farm is the sister project of the EDP Cernavodă Wind Farm, a 138 MW wind farm located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of the Peştera farm close to the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant and the Danube – Black Sea Canal.
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Energy in Portugal describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in Portugal. Energy policy of Portugal will describe the politics of Portugal related to energy more in detail. Electricity sector in Portugal is the main article of electricity in Portugal.
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