Renewables accounted for 87% of electricity consumption in the first five months of the year

In the first five months of the year, 87% of electricity consumed in Portugal was "green". During this period, hydropower accounted for 43% of energy generation, wind for 30%, photovoltaics for 8%, and biomass for 6%. Generation from natural gas supplied 9% of consumption, while the import balance supplied the remaining 4%.

In May, renewable generation supplied nearly 70% of consumption, while non-renewables supplied 3%. The remaining 27% consisted of imported energy. This month, electricity production from solar energy supplied 12% of domestic consumption, the largest share ever for this technology. In the period from January to May, the capability index stood at 1.36 for hydropower (historical average of 1), 1.08 for wind, and 0.94 for solar.

In May, electricity consumption maintained its upward trend recorded in recent months, with a year-on-year variation of 2.1%, or 3.2% when correcting for the effects of temperature and number of working days. The accumulated annual consumption recorded a year-on-year variation of 2.2%, or 2.7% when correcting for the effects of temperature and number of working days.

In the natural gas market, the electricity production segment, hindered by the high availability of renewable energy, and significant electricity imports, recorded a year-on-year decrease of 96%. In the conventional segment, with stabilised consumption, a slight year-on-year growth of 0.4% was recorded. Across both segments, the year-on-year variation was negative at 27%. The Portuguese national system was entirely supplied from the Sines LNG terminal.

Between January and May, the accumulated gas consumption was the lowest since 2004, recording a negative year-on-year variation of 14%. The electricity production segment decreased 58%, partially offset by the conventional segment, which grew 4.6%.