Renewable energy fonts supply 59% of electricity consumption in 2021
Of the 59% of electricity consumption supplied by renewable energy production in 2021, 26% corresponded to wind energy, 27% to hydroelectric power, 7% to biomass and 3.5% to photovoltaic.
Renewable energy production supplied 59% of electricity consumption in Portugal in 2021, especially wind energy, which represented 26%, while non-renewable production supplied 31%, according to data from REN, published Tuesday.
According to REN – the country’s electricity grid and natural gas system operator – of the 59% of electricity consumption supplied by renewable energy production last year, 26% corresponded to wind energy, 27% to hydroelectric power, 7% to biomass and 3.5% to photovoltaic.
In the case of solar photovoltaic energy, although it continued to be the least significant among renewables, REN highlighted its sharp growth (37%) compared with the previous year.
As for the 31% of electricity consumption supplied by non-renewable energy production in 2021, 29% is from coal, with the last power station closed at the end of November (Pego, in Abrantes) representing less than 2%.
The remaining 10% corresponds to imports.
In 2021, the hydroelectric productivity index registered 0.93 (historical average equal to 1) and the wind productivity index 1.01 (historical average equal to 1).
As for electricity consumption last year, there was a growth of 1.4%, or 1.7% with correction for temperature and working days, but it was still 1.7% away from the value recorded in 2019.
Total natural gas consumption, on the other hand, recorded a negative variation of 4.6% year-on-year in the period under review, which resulted from falls of 1.5% in the conventional segment and of around 10% in the power generation segment.
When compared to 2019, natural gas consumption registered a 6% drop.
In the month of December, electricity consumption fell by 1% compared to the same month of 2020, which accentuates to 1.8% considering the effects of temperature and the number of working days.
In that month, REN explained, conditions remained very negative for hydroelectric production, with the respective index of producibility not exceeding 0.42 (historical average equal to 1), in contrast to wind production which recorded a particularly high index, with 1.37 (historical average equal to 1).
Renewable production supplied 66% of consumption in December, non-renewable supplied 26%, while the remaining 8% corresponded to imported energy.
In the natural gas market, the trend seen in recent months continued in December, still conditioned by the current market conditions, with the conventional segment registering a year-on-year contraction of 18%, while overall consumption fell by only 1% due to the positive behaviour of the electricity generation segment, which registered a year-on-year growth of 50%, almost offsetting the reduction in the conventional segment.
