Renewables share in electricity produced in August was 46.8%
According to APREN, Portugal was the fifth European country in August with the highest renewable incorporation in Europe.
The incorporation of renewables in electricity was 46.8% in August, down 10.4% compared to the same month in 2021, keeping Portugal as the fifth European country in August with the highest renewable incorporation in Europe, according to APREN.
According to the Renewable Electricity Bulletin, published monthly by the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association (APREN), “between August 1 and 31, 2022, renewable incorporation was 46.8%, with a total of 3,169 GWh [Gigawatt hours] produced, and “the 10.4% decrease compared to August 2021 is mainly due to the decrease in the hydraulicity index, which resulted in a sharp decrease in hydroelectric production.”
The association also noted that “hydroelectric production and the maximum percentage of water storage in dams reached their lowest levels in the last 10 years, which contributed to an increase in production from fossil sources”.
In the year to August, 27,822 GWh of electricity were generated in mainland Portugal, 54.6% of which was of renewable origin, making Portugal “the fourth European country with the greatest incorporation of renewable sources in electricity generation in the year to August”, behind Norway, Austria and Denmark, which obtained shares of 99.3%, 80.5% and 77.2%, respectively.
According to APREN, from January to August, the electricity generating sector emitted a total of 4.1 MtCO2eq (metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent), while the renewable electricity sector avoided the emission of 5.0 MtCO2eq and the expenditure of €2.758 billion in the import of natural gas.
In the same period, an average hourly price was recorded in the Iberian Electricity Market (Mibel) in Portugal of €192/MWh (Megawatt hour), which “represents a more than three-fold increase compared to the same period last year”.
The APREN analysis points out that, “since June 15, when the Iberian natural gas price limit mechanism went into operation, until August 31, it generated a saving of €54.5 euro/MWhc, which was equivalent to a 16.5% reduction in the average hourly price in MIBEL.”
“The savings due to the natural gas price cap, corresponding to the difference between the price without the mechanism and the price with the compensation payable to natural gas power plants, reached a maximum amount of €134.7/MWhc and a minimum of €5.62/MWhc,” it details.
In total – it adds – 34.6 of the 67.8 TWh (Terawatt hours) produced were subject to the consumer adjustment mechanism in the Iberian Peninsula.
Between January 1 and August 31, the APREN bulletin also points out that Special Regime Generation (SRG) allowed an accumulated saving of €5.684 billion, of which €595 million in August alone.
