Energy and Climate

Renewable energy

The "Renewable energy" fact sheet examines the production of energy from renewable sources, its contribution to primary energy consumption and in gross final energy consumption, as well as the contribution of each of the renewable energy sources.
Description: 

Currently, domestic primary energy production in Portugal is almost all based on Renewable Energy Sources (RES).

Renewable energy sources come from natural resources (water, wind, biomass, sun, and earth’s heat), that naturally and regularly renovate themselves, in a sustainable way, even after being used to generate electricity or heat.

These natural resources allow for the production of hydroelectric, wind, biomass, solar, oceanic and geothermal energy.

The production of energy from renewable sources reduces the need to import fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas, to that purpose, making the country less dependent on foreign energy (energy dependency reduction) and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

This fact sheet concerns mainland Portugal and the Autonomous Regions of Madeira and the Azores and shall be updated on an annual basis.

Objectives and targets: 
  • The European Union (EU) defined, through Directive 2009/28/EC, reformulated by EU Directive 2018/2001, on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (RES), the objective of achieving, in Portugal and up to 2020, a 31.0% share of energy from renewable sources in the gross final energy consumption and a 10.0% share in the transport sector;
  • In Portugal, Decree-Law No. 141/2010, amended by Decree-Law No. 39/2013, partially transposed the RES Directive establishing national targets for the use of energy from renewable sources in the gross final consumption of energy and energy consumption in transport in 2020, corresponding to 31% and 10%, respectively, which were also assumed in the National Action Plan for Renewable Energies for the period 2013-2020 (PNAER 2020). Indicative interim targets (indicative path) were also set for the use of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption: 22.6% for the years 2011-2012; 23.7% for 2013-2014; 25.2% in 2015-2016; and 27.3% for 2017-2018. The PNAER also foresees, as an indicative target, the incorporation of 59.6% of renewable energy in electricity by 2020;
  • In 2016, the European Commission presented the Legislative Package “Clean Energy for all Europeans” with the objective of promoting the energy transition in the 2021-2030 decade, and approved, in the EU Regulation 2018/1999, targets that aim to reach, in 2030, 32% share of energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption, 32.5% reduction in energy consumption, 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels, and 15% from electrical interconnections;
  • As a result, Portugal prepared the National Energy and Climate Plan for the 2030 horizon (PNEC 2030), the main national instrument of energy and climate policy for the 2021-2030 decade. The PNEC 2030 establishes the following national targets for 2030: to reduce between 45% and 55% the emissions of greenhouse gases, by reference to the emissions registered in the year 2005; to incorporate 47% of energy from renewable sources in the gross final energy consumption; to achieve a 35% reduction in primary energy consumption with a view to better energy efficiency; to reach 15% of electricity interconnections.
Progress analysis:

In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the restrictions imposed by it, the year 2020 was atypical in terms of energy consumption (primary and final), with a significant reduction, in particular of the final energy consumption, due essentially to the reduction of travelling/mobility, with the transport sector being the one with the greatest impact on the reduction of final energy consumption (road and air transport).

In 2019, the production of renewable energy stood at 6 487 ktoe (kilo tonnes of oil equivalent), of which around 46.6% came from biomass. Heat pumps contributed 10.5% and biofuels 5.4%.

Evolution of the minimum RES trajectory in gross final energy consumption

Notas: p - provisional data
Source: DGEG, 2021

In 2019, the incorporation of RES in the Gross Final Energy Consumption (CFBE) stood at 30.6%, 0.4 percentage points (pp) above the figure recorded in the previous year, which means that Portugal has achieved in 2019 about 99% of its target for 2020.

Comparing the results obtained by Portugal with the other EU-28 countries, it one can observe that in 2019 Portugal registered the 7th best position, 11.7 pp above the EU-28 average (18.9%), which demonstrates the good performance of Portugal under the Renewables Directive and the level of ambition in meeting the targets for 2020.

On the other hand, the incorporation of RES in primary energy consumption was 28.9% in 2019.

In 2020, the provisional value for the incorporation of RES in the CBFE was 33.9%, indicating that Portugal will have largely exceeded its target for that year. The significant rise in this indicator will have been strongly influenced by the reduction in final energy consumption due to the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (as mentioned above).

Annual production of RES-based electricity, in Portugal

Notas: p - provisional data  
Source: DGEG, 2021

Regarding electricity produced based on RES, there was an increase in 2020, resuming the values of renewable production in the order of those recorded in 2016, since in 2017, due to the drought that occurred in that year, there was to a 55.7% drop in hydro production.

Electricity production from RES in 2020 stood at 32 083 GWh (28 830 GWh in 2019) and the incorporation of RES for the purposes of the RES Directive was 58.1% (the real value was 58.3%).

Annual production of RES-based electricity, in Portugal, in 2019

Source: DGEG, 2021

Annual production of RES-based electricity, in Portugal, in 2020

Notas: provisional data
Source: DGEG, 2021

Comparing the annual production of electricity based on RES between 2019 and 2020, it can be seen that, in this last year, production increased by 6 p.p. compared to 2019 (52.3% in 2019 to 58.3% in 2020). This difference was essentially due to the increase in the hydro power component, which rose from a weight of 18.6% in 2019 to 25.4% in 2020, in total electricity production.

Analysing the production of electricity from renewable sources in 2020, it was found that the hydro power component was responsible for 43.6% of the electricity produced, followed by wind production (38.5%), biomass (10.1%), photovoltaic (5.3%) and geothermal (0.7%). Observing the data by region, around 86% of the production took place in the North and Centre regions of the country, where most of the wind turbines and most of the hydroelectric production are located.

Regarding the installed capacity for the production of electricity from RES, at the end of 2020, 14 609 MW were reached in Portugal, which represents an increase of 1.4% compared to 2019.

Percentage of inclusion of renewables into energy consumption by sector

Notas: p - provisional data
Source: DGEG, 2021

At sectoral level, in 2019, for the purposes of the RES Directive, the share of Renewables in the Electricity sector was 53.8% (+0.4 pp compared to 2018), in the Heating and Cooling sector 41.7% (+0.8 pp compared to 2018) and 9.1% in the Transport sector (+0.1 pp compared to 2018). In the case of the Transport target, there was a significant increase in 2014, given that during that year the Biofuels certification process began, which allowed for an increase in accounting for the purposes of the Renewables Directive. Also since 2014, the incorporation of Renewables in Heating and Cooling includes the contribution of heat pumps, leading to a significant and progressive increase in renewable energies in this sector.

Percentage of inclusion of renewables into the electricity sector, in the EU-28, in 2019

Source: Eurostat, 2021

Compared with other EU countries, Portugal was, in 2019, the fourth EU-28 country with the best performance in the inclusion of renewable energy in the electricity sector (53.8%).

Last update: 
Monday, 8 November, 2021
More information at: 

Directorate-General for Energy and Geology – https://www.dgeg.gov.pt/pt/estatistica/energia/

Energy Balances – https://www.dgeg.gov.pt/pt/estatistica/energia/balancos-energeticos/

Energy in Numbers – https://www.dgeg.gov.pt/pt/estatistica/energia/publicacoes/energia-em-numeros/

Renewable flash statistics - https://www.dgeg.gov.pt/pt/estatistica/energia/publicacoes/estatisticas-rapidas-das-renovaveis/

Eurostat - Renewable energy statistics - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Renewable_energy_statistics