2024 in Numbers
2024 was a year of consolidation for the renewable electricity production sector in Portugal. Continuously growing, despite the challenges faced, renewables in Portugal have demonstrated the clear opportunity inherent in the country's endogenous energy resources: the renewable electricity generation centres in Mainland Portugal and Autonomous Regions contributed to 80.0% of the total 50,237 GWh produced in 2024. This represents an increase of 9.2 percentage points compared to the previous year, and a contribution of 72.5% relatively to the electricity consumption.
The main contributions to renewable production came from hydropower and wind, at approximately 29.1% and 28.6% respectively, corresponding to 14,640 GWh and 14,346 GWh. Following this, solar energy contributed to 15.6%, with the decentralised production representing 2,890 GWh and the centralised production 4,935 GWh, while bioenergy generated 6.4%, which mean 3,195 GWh. Thanks to the commissioning of new renewable plants – an increased capacity of 1,509 MW, of which 86% were solar photovoltaic – it was possible to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels for electricity production by 47%, notably with natural gas usage decreasing by 9.8 percentage points compared to 2023.
Regarding international trades in Mainland Portugal, the import balance appears to have stagnated, totalling 10,442 GWh, with corresponds to a 2% variation compared to 2023. Given the favourable wind index (1.06), hydrological index (1.16) and solar index (0.94) registered in mainland Portugal in 2024, it was possible to achieve 1,867 non-consecutive hours during which electricity consumption was met solely by renewable production. This highlights both the quality of the technology portfolio effect in Portugal and the resilience of the national electricity system to face high levels of renewable integration.
The month of April deserves special mention, with a renewable share of 87.6%, equating to 433 non-consecutive hours of 100% renewable consumption. In this regard, it is worth noting that the onset of spring has gradually been characterised by an abundance of renewable resources, leading to sharp reductions in the Portuguese wholesale market prices. During these 100% renewable hours, the MIBEL achieved an average price of €18.8/MWh.
In summary, among the benefits that the renewable sector has brought to society, the economy and the environment in 2024, the following stand out:
- 11.7 Mt of avoided CO₂-eq emissions;
- a saving of €2,055 million1 in fossil fuel imports;
- avoided electricity imports totalling €289 million2;
- savings on CO₂ emission permits of €715 million3;
- savings on the energy component of the electricity tariff inherent to the merit order effect, amounting to approximately €8.8 billion.
