Energy Transitions Podcast: Why Portugal is a European renewables success story
Pamela Largue
Posted on: 30 April 2024
Portugal began investing in renewable energy over four decades ago, making it somewhat of an early adopter compared to its European counterparts.
Portugal began investing in renewable energy over four decades ago, making it somewhat of an early adopter compared to its European counterparts.
Since those initial investments, necessitated by a lack of domestic oil, gas and coal, this small country has made big strides towards cleaner energy, having set a record in 2023 for producing all its capacity from renewable energy sources for six consecutive days.
To understand how Portugal managed to achieve this and unpack why the country can be considered an example of energy transition to the rest of Europe, I am joined by Pedro Amaral Jorge, President of APREN (Portuguese Renewable Energy Association).
In this episode of the Energy Transitions podcast, Jorge provides more detail on how being an early adopter set Portugal up for success and provided a strong foundation for future energy and economic transformation.
In this episode, we answer these questions:
- How is Portugal maximising its renewable energy resources, especially wind and hydro?
- What policy mechanisms give the country an advantage and help speed up renewables uptake?
- Why was renewable energy critical to ensuring a positive economic cycle in the country?
- Does Portugal have the skills and experience needed to achieve net zero goals?
- What is the future of transition fuels like natural gas?
- What is APREN's role in Portugal's renewable energy sector and how can renewable energy associations in other countries model their advocacy and policy efforts?
"For us, going renewable was not only an environmental exercise, it was also an economic exercise because we didn't have to import more fuel..."
APREN, a non-profit association based in Lisbon, works to coordinate and promote the interests of its members, which represent more than 90% of all installed capacity of renewable energy sources in Portugal.
The visit to APREN headquarters was part of Enlit on the road Portugal, which explored key people and projects behind the country's energy transition.
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Previous episodes:
QCells CTO on how to build a mega US solar supply chain
Dr Sama Bilbao y Leon – Strengthening energy system resilience through nuclear power
Transformational leadership in energy with Dr Angela Wilkinson
More about Portugal:
Europe’s biggest solar-hydro hybrid plant
Injecting hydrogen into Portugal’s gas network
How innovation is driving the energy revolution at EDP
