Record electricity consumption in the first six months of 2026

In the first six months of 2026, electricity consumption reached 27,200 GWh, 3.5% higher than the figure recorded in the same period the previous year, or 3.3% when adjusted for temperature and working days. This represents the highest consumption ever recorded in the national grid for this period, exceeding the previous record, set in 2025, by around 900 GWh. In June, electricity consumption continued the upward trend seen recently, with a year-on-year increase of 3.0% (2.5% after adjusting for temperature and the number of working days).

For the first half of the year as a whole, the hydroelectric productivity index stood at 1.19, the wind productivity index at 1.03 and the solar productivity index at 0.79 (historical averages of 1). During this period, renewable energy accounted for 71% of consumption, broken down as follows: hydroelectric 29%, wind 26%, photovoltaic 11% and biomass 5%. Natural gas-fired generation accounted for 14% of consumption, whilst the remaining 15% was met by imports.

In June, conditions were unfavourable for hydroelectric generation, with the productivity index not exceeding 0.54 (historical average of 1), despite reservoir levels remaining high. Wind power achieved a productivity index of 1.08, whilst solar power stood at 0.93 (historical averages of 1). Solar power generation even reached an all-time peak of around 3,800 MW, recorded on 29 June at 13:30. Overall, renewable generation supplied 55% of consumption, non-renewable generation 12% and imported energy the remaining 33%.

The natural gas market recorded a year-on-year fall of 9% in June, due to a 33% contraction in the electricity generation segment. In the conventional segment, which covers the remaining consumers, there was a positive year-on-year increase of 5% this month. In June, the Sines LNG terminal fully supplied the national system, with 55% sourced from Nigeria, 29% from the USA and 16% from Russia.

Over the first six months as a whole, cumulative annual natural gas consumption recorded an overall increase of 6.1 per cent, driven by positive performance in both the electricity market (up 21 per cent) and the conventional sector (a marginal rise of 0.3 per cent). Nigeria and the United States remain the main sources of gas consumed in Portugal, accounting for 56 per cent and 33 per cent of the total, respectively. 8 per cent of the gas originated in Russia, whilst the remaining 7 per cent entered via the gas pipeline interconnection with Spain.