The Portuguese Power System electricity generation park has undergone a paradigm shift with regard to integration of new supply sources in the last two decades. As of 2005, there was a gradual increase in the installed renewable capacity, being the renewable power generation park 2.7 times larger today when compared to that year, a fact that contributed to the increase in the total electricity generation capacity of 41.7%, compared to 2005. In turn, since 2011 the fossil fuel installed capacity has shown a reduction trend that will be even more evident in 2021 with the deactivation of the Sines and Pego coal power plants.

The increased use of Portuguese endogenous and renewable energy sources as means to produce electricity has changed the composition of the electricity generation mix in Portugal and has, consecutively, played an increasingly determinant role in the satisfaction of demand. The graph shows that from 2005 onwards renewables begin to gradually assume an important share of generation, especially with the growth of wind generation.

The increase in renewable incorporation in electricity generation has led to a reduction in the use of technologies based on fossil fuels. having registered, in 2021, 40.7%.

The increase in renewable electricity generation allowed a reduction on the Portuguese energy dependency during the first decade of the 21st century. In sum, energy dependency has decreased by 17% since 2000. However, between 2015 and 2019, it should be noted that there was a trend of stagnation, which was contrary to 2020 and 2021, which as we know were years marked by the pandemic crisis. The year 2022 brought an increase in energy dependence, resulting from the extreme drought that affected hydroelectric productivity.

The renewable electricity is a determinant factor to the reduction on fossil fuel import trade balance and to the decrease of external energy dependency. The avoided costs sum up to 15.6 billion euros since 2013.

The renewable electricity avoided, at the national level, the emission of 121 megatonnes of CO₂-eq between 2013 and 2022, which is equivalent to around 77% of the CO₂ emissions from the road transport sector for the same period. The value for the avoided CO₂ emission allowances was estimated at 582 million euros in 2022.

The investment on the renewable sector contributed significantly to the creation of specialized jobs (direct and indirect) and to territorial cohesion. This reinforcement is mainly due to the location of some projects in less favoured socio-economic areas. It is estimated that, at the end of the year 2022, the renewable sector employed more than 77 thousand people.

The incorporation of renewable sources for the electricity generation accounted for 2.2% of the national GDP in 2022. The technology that most stands is wind power, since there is a value chain that aggregates the industrial components production and a set of R&D and services activities.

It is estimated that the incorporation of renewable sources for the electricity generation has contributed, in the last six years, with 3,889 million euros for Social Security, 1,715 million euros for the Corporate Income Tax, 115 million euros for the Municipal Surtax, 3,221 million euros for the Personal Income Tax and 3,944 million euros for VAT.