Saturday, May 21, 2016

Portugal Runs for Four Days Straight on Renewable Energy Alone

As recently as 2013, renewables provided only about 23% of Portugal’s electricity. By 2015 that figure had risen to 48%. (Photograph Credit: Pete Titmuss/Alamy Stock Photo) Click to Enlarge.
Portugal kept its lights on with renewable energy alone for four consecutive days last week in a clean energy milestone revealed by data analysis of national energy network figures.

Electricity consumption in the country was fully covered by solar, wind and hydro power in an extraordinary 107-hour run that lasted from 6.45am on Saturday 7 May until 5.45pm the following Wednesday, the analysis says.

News of the zero emissions landmark comes just days after Germany announced that clean energy had powered almost all its electricity needs on Sunday 15 May, with power prices turning negative at several times in the day – effectively paying consumers to use it.

Oliver Joy, a spokesman for the Wind Europe trade association said:  “We are seeing trends like this spread across Europe - last year with Denmark and now in Portugal.  The Iberian peninsula is a great resource for renewables and wind energy, not just for the region but for the whole of Europe.”

James Watson, the CEO of SolarPower Europe said:  “This is a significant achievement for a European country, but what seems extraordinary today will be commonplace in Europe in just a few years.  The energy transition process is gathering momentum and records such as this will continue to be set and broken across Europe.”

Read more at Portugal Runs for Four Days Straight on Renewable Energy Alone

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