Portugal – a renewable energy leader?

Turbines in Portugal

Over the past five years, Portugal has transformed its power grid from a reliant fossil fuel system to a smart grid that now utilises not only the country's wind and hydropower, but also its sunlight and ocean waves.

According to the New York Times, Portugal's popular tourist city, Algarve, now gets 45 percent of its energy from renewable sources. This figure has gone up 17 percent in the past five years.

Earlier this year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris said that land-based wind power was now ‘potentially competitive' with the likes of coal and oil. As such, wind power usage has grown sevenfold and Portugal appears to be at the forefront of the innovation, planning to utilise the clean energy to power a network of charging stations for electric vehicles.

Speaking to the New York Times, Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates said, "The experience of Portugal shows that it is possible to make these changes in a very short time."

A green example

While Portugal might have forged a reputation as a green leader, the country's electricity has come at a price - a high retail price. Portuguese households have long paid about twice what Americans pay for electricity, and prices have risen 15 percent in the last five years, in part because of the renewable energy programme.

The IEA has said that the country's green progress has been a ‘remarkable success', but ‘it is not fully clear that their costs, both financial and economic, as well as their impact on final consumer energy prices, are well understood and appreciated.'

Despite concerns about the price of electricity, Portugal has pushed the use of renewable energy and is among the continent's market leaders. A recent report by IHS Emerging Energy Research of Cambridge, Mass., a leading energy consulting firm, stated that by 2025 Ireland, Denmark and Britain will also get 40 percent or more of their electricity from renewable sources.

For Portugal however, its ‘vast resources' of wind and river power, sources that are also cost-effective, mean that the country will continue to lead the way in renewable energy production.

Relevant articles:

Europe’s major wind projects | Building a European super-grid | EU offshore wind farms increase

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