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Portugal’s fossil gas consumption has fallen sharply in 2024 thanks to the country’s increasing reliance on renewable energy technologies in the power sector.
Domestic renewable energy technologies supplied 73% of Portugal’s electricity needs during the first three quarters of 2024, according to grid operator REN. Solar comprised 10% of the mix, with output up 35% from a year before. Hydropower met 31% of demand, wind 26%, and biomass 6%.
Plants that burn fossil gas accounted for just 8% of the mix, while the remaining 19% came from imported energy, mostly from Spain, which also gets around three-quarters of its power from clean energy technologies.
As a result, Portugal’s total gas consumption was down 23% over the nine-month period, compared to a year before. A 68% drop in use in the electricity market was partly offset by a 2.1% increase in the conventional market, which includes heavy industry.
The country’s electricity mix has rapidly evolved, with the share of renewables up from 27% in 2005 and 54% in 2017. The last coal-fired power plant was shut in 2021.
The transition has been underpinned by a power procurement programme that favours low-cost projects.
Portugal plans to get to 80% renewable electricity on an annual basis by 2026, and 85% by 2030.
