Renewables supplied 87% of the electricity consumed in November

Production from renewable sources supplied 87% of the electricity consumed in Portugal during November. The rise is explained by the favourable conditions for hydroelectric and wind power generation.

According to REN, the company that manages the electricity system, non-renewable power accounted for only 13% of electricity consumption, where the trade balance was slightly exporting, representing around 2% of national consumption.

November, a positive month

Last month was highly favourable in terms of hydroelectric and wind power generation. The first recorded a production index of 2.02 (historical average of 1), the third highest in the REN records for this month (records since 1971).

In hydroelectric power, on 5 November, a new historical peak of power fed into the grid was recorded, 6,719 Megawatts (MW), above the 6,569 MW in January this year.

As for wind power, the monthly index was at 1.04, while for photovoltaic it was 0.92.

59% of renewables since the start of the year

In the period from January to November, REN indicates that the power rates associated with renewables "are close to the average values", with hydroelectric power recording 0.98 and wind and solar both recording 1.01.

"From the start of the year until the end of November, renewable production supplied around 59% of consumption, split between wind power at 25%, hydroelectric power at 21%, photovoltaic power at 7%, and biomass at 6%", as detailed.

As for natural gas production, it supplied 20% of consumption and the imports balance likewise assured 20%.

The drop trend remains in the natural gas market, with a like-for-like change of -31% in November.