Renewables supplied 89% of electricity consumption in the first quarter, the highest figure since 1978

Renewable sources covered 91% of the country’s electricity consumption in March, a contribution that was above the 88% in February and 81% in January, revealed REN – Redes Energéticas Nacionais, in a statement released this Monday. And considering the total for the first quarter, renewables supplied 89% of electricity consumption, the highest value for a first quarter since 1978.

REN recalls that in the 1970s the national electrical system did not yet have a relevant thermoelectric component, and hydropower was the clear leader in electricity production in the country. In the following decades, the country invested in coal and natural gas plants, and after the year 2000 the electrical system began to rely on an increasing weight of other renewable sources in addition to water, especially wind and, more recently, solar.

In this first quarter of the year, the hydroelectric producibility index was 1.38 (the historical average being 1), the wind power index was 1.07 and the solar capacity index was 0.87. According to REN, hydroelectric energy was responsible for supplying 47% of electricity consumption, wind energy 31%, photovoltaic energy 6% and biomass 5%. Natural gas production supplied 11% of consumption, while the balance of exchanges with foreign countries was slightly exporting, equivalent to around 1% of national consumption.

In the month of March, hydroelectric energy registered a producibility index of 1.78 and a new maximum power delivered to the grid of 7280 MW on the 11th. The wind producibility index stood at 1.15 while solar registered an index producibility of 0.86. The monthly balance of exchanges with foreign countries was export, which is happening for the first time this year, equivalent to around 11% of national consumption.

Considering only the month of March, electricity consumption registered a year-on-year growth of 1.6%, or 2.9% when correcting for the effects of temperature and number of working days, while in the quarter there was an increase of 1. 1%, or 2.6% corrected for temperature and working days.