The Iberian Peninsula has unique opportunities for green energy, and its two nations are taking advantage of it by powering nearly their whole society on renewables.
Portugal beat a 9-year record when in March 2023, it generated 103% of its monthly energy consumption with renewable sources.
This was according to the country’s transmission system operator, REN. The country believes its electricity needs will be satisfied by 2040 only through the energies of nature. The most important aspect of any energy transition is honesty, and even though Portugal generated more renewable electricity than it consumed, that electricity wasn’t always being used to power that consumption. Fossil fuels were still being used in various places at various times.
REN also acknowledged that the forces of nature are unpredictable, and even though March generated 103% of total energy consumption, the same month last year generated 6% because of the drought.
Spain meanwhile is on track to becoming the first of Europe’s Big 5 economies to generate more than 50% of its electricity from renewable sources, according to a forecast by Rystad Energy—with almost all of it coming from solar, wind, and hydroelectric.
Spain also generates significant amounts of power from 10 nuclear power stations using nuclear fission—which is sometimes considered a fossil fuel even though it doesn’t emit CO2 like coal-fired energy options.
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Meanwhile, further inland, the utilization of renewable energy in Germany totaled 52.3% in the first six months of 2023. This is 3.1% higher than last year.
In 2023, the number of rooftop solar systems installed was more than double that of 2022, while unlike Portugal and Spain, Germany has a flourishing bioenergy sector where they pull substantial electricity needs from organic waste.
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Already in July, the weather in Europe has been balmy compared to this period last year when the continent was roasting under drought, fire, and heatwave, allowing for excellent periods of renewable energy collection.
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