Portugal's renewable electric power
Portugal has made significant advancements in renewable electric power generation, predominantly through wind and hydropower. By 2021, over 55% of the country's electricity was sourced from renewable energy, highlighting its commitment to sustainability. The nation's energy landscape has evolved, with a notable shift towards natural gas since its introduction in 1997, while dependency on oil has decreased. Wind power alone contributed approximately 51.6% of the renewable energy mix in 2021, with hydropower and solar making up 34.2% and 13.5%, respectively.
The implementation of regulatory frameworks in the late 1980s facilitated private investment in renewable energy, leading to a boom in small hydropower projects. Additionally, the installed wind capacity in Portugal has surged from 64.5 megawatts in 1999 to over 13,000 megawatts by 2023. The country also explores innovative solutions like pumped storage hydropower to enhance the reliability of wind energy. Despite these efforts, challenges remain, as Portugal's greenhouse gas emissions have remained stable but above targeted levels. Overall, Portugal stands out in Europe for its proactive role in increasing renewable energy contributions to its national energy balance.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Portugal's renewable electric power
Official Name: Portuguese Republic.
Summary: Portugal developed a significant renewable electric power generation capacity—largely based on wind and hydropower—which improved the share of electricity generated by renewable energy to more than 55 percent in 2021.
Portugal is a member of the European Union (EU). Since it joined the EU (in 1986, when the EU was the European Economic Community), the country’s economy has been expanding robustly. Funds from the European Commission were used to invest in Portugal’s infrastructure.
The vast bulk of Portugal’s energy requirements are met through imports, predominantly of oil and gas. The country made a strategic shift in introducing natural gas in 1997. While oil use by volume has remained relatively steady, and coal consumption has dropped, natural gas use in Portugal has zoomed from zero in 1997 to 5.515 billion cubic meters in 2022—100 percent of it imported.
Energy consumption in Portugal has roughly doubled between 1990 and the 2020s. The increase took place across the transport, industrial, and commercial sectors. Transportation was the largest energy-consuming sector in the country in 2021, accounting for a 33 percent share that year. Industry accounted for 28 percent of total energy consumption; residential use accounted for 17 percent; commercial and public services accounted for 10.3 percent.
In terms of fuels used in the various sectors, petroleum products in 2022 represented 46.1 percent of the nation's energy supply, easily the dominant share. However, this actually represents a dramatic reduction in proportional dependence on oil; in 1998 this fuel represented more than 60 percent of total energy consumption. Natural gas, still growing in share, was the second-largest fuel at 24.4 percent.
Sources
The contribution that renewable sources—mainly hydroelectricity and wind—make to total energy supply was 55.7 percent in 2021, significantly higher than the International Energy Agency (IEA) average. Domestic production of energy, which had increased by 50 percent between 1990 and the 2020s, was exclusively based on renewable energy sources, mainly hydro, wind, and solar.
According to the statistical convention of Eurostat, Portugal is among the leading countries in Europe in terms of its contribution of renewable energy to the national energy balance. According to the IEA, 51.6 percent of Portugal’s renewable energy came from wind power in 2021, 34 .2 from hydropower, and 13.5 from solar.
The development of small hydropower in Portugal is a good case study in how to remove nontechnical barriers to private investment in the power sector. In 1988, Decree Law 189/88 came into force, defining the rules for the independent production of electricity from renewables. This regulation was the main reason for the small-hydro market boom in the early 1990s.
There has also been a huge improvement in wind-farm-installed capacity since 1999. In that year, about 64.5 megawatts of electricity-generating wind turbines were operating in Portugal: 57.5 megawatts in mainland Portugal and 6.9 in the island regions of Madeira and the Azores. In 2023, the installed wind capacity nationwide exceeded 13,000 megawatts.
Among the country’s latest initiatives in this area is the development of pumped storage hydropower. The technology is seen as an ideal, low-emission tie-in to wind turbine power, as the pumped storage reservoirs can be called into action in periods of low winds, thus smoothing out the wind-based power supply.
Low-temperature geothermal resources are exploited mostly on mainland Portugal, with high-temperature resources restricted to the Azores. These sites provide heating for buildings, swimming pools, and greenhouses, in certain cases associated with thermal spas. Current installed capacity was about 212 megawatts in 2023.
The photovoltaic (PV) total installed capacity exceeded 3,791 megawatts in 2023. Most PV sites are stand-alone systems that provide electricity for homes in remote locations and service applications, mainly telecommunications repeaters.
Emissions
Portuguese greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions represented 57.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. This value has been relatively stable since 1999 but was well above the target. Portugal was part of the European Union's climate and energy targets known as the 20-20-20 targets. These represented a reduction in EU GHG emissions of at least 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, with 20 percent of EU energy consumption to come from renewable resources, and a 20 percent reduction in primary energy use compared with projected levels, to be achieved by improving energy efficiency. The EU as a whole achieved these goals and set new target goals for 2023.
Bibliography
Energy Policies of IEA Countries: Portugal 2016 Review. OECD/IEA, 2016, www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/Energy‗Policies‗of‗IEA‗Countries‗Portugal‗2016‗Review.pdf. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.
"Portugal." CIA World Factbook, 7 Aug. 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/portugal/. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.
"Portugal." International Energy Agency, 2024, www.iea.org/countries/portugal. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.
"Portugal." US Energy Information Administration, 2024, www.eia.gov/international/overview/country/PRT. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.
"Portugal - Country Commercial Guide." International Trade Administration, 25 Jan. 2024, www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/portugal-energy. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.