Renewables account for 73% of electricity consumption until September

Renewable energy production supplied 73% of electricity consumption in Portugal during the first three quarters of the year. Solar energy production accounted for 10% of this supply, a growth of 35% compared to the previous year. Hydropower was responsible for 31%, wind for 26%, biomass for 6%, while natural gas production supplied 8%. The remaining 19% came from imported energy. In September, renewable production supplied 55% of consumption, non-renewable production 10%, while the remaining 35% came from imported energy.

In September, electricity consumption registered a year-on-year growth of 2.3%, or 3.9% after adjusting for temperature effects and the number of working days, maintaining the upward trend seen since January, which stands at 1.8%, or 2.4% (adjusted for temperature and working days).

Between January and September, the hydroelectric productivity index was 1.33, the wind productivity index was 1.07, and the solar productivity index was 0.96 (with historical averages of 1). In the last month, wind production reached a productivity index of 1.39, as did hydroelectric, while photovoltaic remained at 0.95.

In the natural gas market, there was a reduction in consumption related to the contraction of the electricity production sector, resulting in a 27% drop. In the electricity market segment, a decrease of 67% was recorded, while in the conventional segment, which includes the remaining customers, there was a year-on-year positive variation of 0.9%.

At the end of the third quarter, natural gas consumption registered an annual year-on-year decrease of 23%, due to a 68% drop in the electricity market and a 2.1% increase in the conventional market.