Renewables supplied 81% of electricity consumption in February

Renewable energy production supplied 81% of national electricity consumption in February (including exports), while non-renewable production, from natural gas, accounted for 19%. The foreign trade balance was positive, corresponding to around 5% of national consumption.

The hydroelectric productivity index reached 1.97 (historical average of 1), the highest value ever recorded by REN for February (records since 1971). Wind power production also stood out, with a productivity index of 1.29 (historical average of 1).

It should be noted that solar production recorded its lowest ever index for a month of February (0.59), as a result of unfavourable weather conditions, translating into a year-on-year drop of 19% despite the increase in installed capacity.

In the first two months of the year, renewable production supplied 83% of consumption, distributed between hydroelectric (39%), wind (35%), solar (5%) and biomass (4%).

Natural gas production accounted for 17%, while the balance of foreign trade was practically zero. During this period, productivity indices stood at 1.62 for hydroelectric, 1.32 for wind and 0.60 for solar (historical averages of 1).

Electricity consumption in Portugal in February maintained the growth rate observed at the beginning of the year, registering a year-on-year variation of 5.2%, or 5.7% considering the correction for temperature and the number of working days. In the first two months of the year, consumption increased by 6.6% (5.7% with correction for the same effects).

In the natural gas market, February saw a year-on-year increase of 24%, driven by the electricity production segment, which grew 83% compared to the same month last year. The conventional segment, which includes other consumers, also grew 2.7%. Overall, this was the highest monthly consumption since July 2023.

At the end of February, cumulative natural gas consumption increased by 15%, with growth of 45% in the electricity production segment and 3.8% in the conventional segment.

The national system was mainly supplied by the Sines LNG terminal, which accounted for 76% of the gas consumed, originating mainly from Nigeria (39%), the United States (24%) and Russia (13%). The remaining 24% came through the interconnection with Spain.