Portugal just reached a new milestone by running for four straight days on renewable energy sources only. The power needs in the country were completely fulfilled by solar, wind and hydropower.
The 107-hour long marathon clean energy usage lasted from 6.45am on Saturday 7 May until 5.45pm on Wednesday. Previously, Germany ran for 24 hours on renewable energy sources on May 15. The Germans were even paid to use the power as the prices went negative that day. Similarly, the UK citizens enjoyed their first ever week of coal-free electricity generation.
The 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.”
The experts and bigwigs in the renewable energy industry anticipate a future where such news would be commonplace. Europe in undergoing a huge energy transition as the nations adopt clean sources of energy. The Portuguese Renewable Energy Association revealed in its report that in 2015, the renewable sources fulfilled 48 percent of the power needs of the country.
EU has set new targets for the renewable or clean energy for 2020. However, the support for the wind energy schemes has been reduced over time. In spite of the decline in support, Portugal has added 550MW of wind capacity from 2013 to 2016. The country is now eyeing possibilities of export the green energy being produced.
Experts believe that the right policies can help entire EU to shift over to green energy in the next 15 years.
The urge to transition to renewable energy is gaining momentum as Scotland prepares to improve its wind power sector while the hydro-power industry flourishes in Austria.
A new clean energy record streak is imminent.