In 2000, 85% of energy was imported. In 2021 the last coal fired power station closed and renewable energy was expanded to fill the gap. A target of being carbon neutral by 2050 has been set.
Production capacities for electricity (billion kWh)
Type
Amount
Fossil fuel
76.40
Hydro
51.92
Wind power
45.65
Biomass
15.08
Solar
6.27
Geothermal
0.78
Total
196.10
Electricity (billion kWh)
Category
Amount
Consumption
48.41
Production
52.22
Import
7.55
Export
6.10
Natural Gas (billion m3)
Consumption
5.94
Import
6.09
Crude Oil (barrels per day)
Consumption
90,920,000
Production
2,920,000
Import
93,220,000
CO2 emissions: 38.97 million tons
Energy plans
Portugal aims to be climate neutral by 2050 and to cover 80% of its electricity consumption with renewables by 2030.[2]
Portugal has also developed a hydrogen strategy to decrease natural gas imports and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Energy sources
Fossil fuels
Coal
Sines power plant (hard coal) started operation in 1985–1989 in Portugal. According to WWF its CO2 emissions were among the top dirty ones in Portugal in 2007.[3] That coal power plant went offline in January 2021, with the one remaining coal power plant in the country, closing at 7h15 on the 19th of November 2021.[4][5]
Portugal has the SinesLNG import terminal to facilitate gas imports. There are three LNG storage tanks with a total capacity of 390,000 cbm and a regasification capacity of 5.6 mtpa.[6] In 2021 Portugal imported 2.8 billion cubic meters of LNG from Nigeria, being almost 50% of the country's gas imports for the year.[7]
Renewable energy
Portugal's renewable electricity production from 1980 until 2019
Years in which the last three renewable power levels achieved
Portugal has supported and increased the solar electricity (Photovoltaic power) and solar thermal energy (solar heating) during 2006–2010. Portugal was 9th in solar heating in the EU and 8th in solar power based on total volume in 2010.
The largest solar farm in Europe is being built in Santiago do Cacém near Sines, creating up to 2,500 jobs, mostly local, it will be completed in 2025 and have a generating capacity of 1.2 GW.[8]
Wind energy capacity in Portugal is over 5,000 MW from onshore wind farms. In 2023, plans for the first floating offshore wind farm were announced.[9]
Biomass
Biomass provides around 8% of electricity generation capacity.
Hydro power
Portugal has also been using water power to generate power for the country. In the 2010s, a local company, Wave Roller installed many devices along the coast to make use of the water power.[10]
In 2021, 36% of Portugal’s total installed power generation capacity and 23% of total power generation came from hydro power.[11]
Drought can seriously reduce hydro energy generation in the summer months.
Portugal does not produce any electricity from nuclear sources.[12]
Transport
The sustainable strategy has been a shift from individual to collective transport within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (Metro Lisbon (ML), collective buses, Companhia Carris de ferro de Lisboa).
