APREN makes an overview of 2017 and announces applications for its 2018 Award

Overview of 2017

The Portuguese Renewable Energy Association (APREN), Member of ALER, prepared an overview of the Portuguese renewable energy sector in 2017.

The year of 2017 was very dry and hot, one of the four hottest years since 1931. These conditions have adversely affected the renewable energy production; renewable electricity represented only 44,3% of the total consumption in Portugal (mainland), one of the lowest renewable percentages in the national power sector in this decade.

The hydrological index was 0,47 which translated into a significant decrease in hydropower production. As a result, there was the need to increase fossil fuel production in 2017, leading to 25% increase of carbon dioxide emissions compared to last year and which lead to an 33% increase of the average annual electricity price in the wholesale market compared to 2016, representing 52,45 €/MWh.

However, 2017 was not only bad news.On the positive side it is important to highlight that last year had the second highest value of electricity exports, with an export's balance of 2 684 GWh, only surpassed in  2016 (5 082 GWh).

In 2017 the low share of renewables and the consequent increase in fossil-based power production lead to an increase of the average annual price of electricity in the wholesale market, nevertheless there was still an overall benefit of 727 M€ resulting from the positive impact of renewable production in the prices of the wholesale market.

During 2017 renewables were able to supply 122 non-consecutive hours of the whole power consumption in Portugal mainland.

2018 APREN Award

APREN with the support of EDP Produção and EDP Renováveis, announced the opening of applications for the 2018 APREN Award, an initiative this year dedicated to masters and doctoral theses, that aims to distinguish the best academic dissertations, written in Portuguese or in English, under the theme of renewable power generation, carried out in higher education institutions in Portugal.

The deadline for applications is July 15.

For more information, visit the website.