Renewable generation supplied 59% of electricity consumption in the first 10 months of the year

Renewable generation supplied 59% of electricity consumption in Portugal in the first 10 months of the year, split between hydropower with 25%, wind with 24%, biomass with 6%, and photovoltaics with 4%. Non-renewable generation supplied 31% of consumption, split between natural gas with 29% and coal with 2%, and the remaining 10% accounted for imported energy.

In the year to date, the hydropower capability index stands at 1.09 (historical average of 1) and the wind-power capability index at 0.97 (historical average of 1).

In October, electricity consumption recorded a year-on-year reduction of 0.9%. When correcting for the effects of temperature and number of working days, there was a positive variation of 0.3%. In the period from January to October, year-on-year consumption increased 1.5%, or 2.2%, when correcting for temperature and number of working days. Compared to 2019, there was a drop of 1.9%.

Also in the month of October, conditions were negative for renewable generation, with the hydropower capability index standing at 0.52 (historical average of 1), and the wind-power capability index registering 0.87 (historical average of 1). Renewable generation supplied 44% of consumption, while non-renewable generation supplied 34%. The remaining 22% consisted of imported energy.

The downward trend in natural gas consumption in recent months was more pronounced, with a year-on-year contraction of 15% in October stemming from a 10% drop in the power generation market and from an 18% drop in the conventional segment, which accounts for all other consumption.

In the period from January to October, the consumption of natural gas recorded a negative year-on-year variation of 4.7%, while the conventional segment registered a positive variation of 1.8%, but with the power production segment dropping 16%. When compared to the same period in 2019, there was a retraction of around 6%.