According to the plan, presented earlier in the week at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, renewables are expected to represent 80 percent of electricity consumption in Portugal in 2030, with an anticipated increase in installed capacity up to 28.8 GW, compared to 11.8 GW in 2015.


At the presentation of the plan, which provides for a total investment of 21.9 billion euros, the general director of Energy and Geology, João Bernardo, said earlier this week that solar energy will play a decisive role in the increase of renewable capacity, although wind energy continues to have a predominant role (between 33 percent and 35 percent of the estimated renewable production in 2030).


This news comes at it emerged that windpower production in Portugal on 23 January reached a daily record, of 101.9 GWh, compared to the previous maximum of 99.6 GWh seen on 11 March 2018, grid operator Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) reported on.


In a statement, REN said that “verified windpower production corresponded to 61 percent of daily consumption (167 GWh -gigawatts per hour), placing Portugal ahead of Europe in the share of energy from this source.”


About 13 percent (24 GWh) of the country’s windpower was exported to Spain.


The day also saw a record in Spain, with windpower output totalling 367,697 MWh, up 0.6 percent on the previous historical high, and representing 43.2 percent of daily consumption, REN said.


According to REN, 5,150 MW in windpower capacity is installed in Portugal, on average supplying about 25 percent of national consumption.


In 2018, renewable output supplied 52 percent of national consumption, with wind and hydroelectric plants each accounting for 23 percent, biomass 5 percent and photovoltaic 1.5 percent.


Portugal has seen its reliance on fossil fuels drop considerably over the years.


Last May, Portugal managed to run the country for three consecutive days on renewable energy alone.


According to grid operator REN, most of the energy was generated from wind turbines, setting a renewable energy record, which saw the country have 69 hours of green energy.


Green energy currently supplies just over half of Portugal’s annual electricity needs, saving the country around 750 million euros in fossil fuel imports.


But while Portugal is fast being seen as a global leader in energy, it is the costliest country in the European Union for household gas bills, while electricity prices are only second to those charged in Germany.