Portugal was supplied only with wind power, hydro or solar energy for six days in a row

From household electrical appliances to factories used in industry, everything ran on wind energy, hydro or solar power for six days in a row.

Between 4:00 a.m. on October 31 and 9:00 a.m. As of November 6, the nation of ten million people relied solely on renewable energy, as 1,102 GWh were generated.
This exceeded national consumption over the same period by 262 GWh, while the previous record set in 2019 remains 131 hours.

While many countries still rely on fossil fuels as a form of energy, Portugal was able to produce more than enough renewable energy to run for six consecutive days.

Hugo Costa, head of EDP Renovables, the renewable arm of the state power company in the country, said: “The gas plants were there, waiting to send energy, in case it was necessary. It wasn’t like that, because the wind was blowing; It was raining a lot.

“And we were producing with a positive impact for consumers because prices have fallen dramatically, almost to zero.”

The recent successful test in Portugal comes as nations aim to meet the climate goals of the Paris Agreement by 2050.

By then, countries will have to run their grids carbon-free not just for six days, but all year round.
A handful of counties already do this thanks to hydropower endowments.

But the vast majority of the world’s nations still emit carbon emissions, which many climate activists believe will cause a real climate emergency in the future.

Portugal has taken a big step forward with its recent trial, after committing to developing renewable energy early and often.

Expert Miguel Prado, who covers Portugal’s energy sector for Expresso newspaper, said: “The key conclusion, in my opinion, is that it shows that the Portuguese grid is prepared for very high shares of renewable electricity and for its expected variation: We were able to manage both the sharp increase in hydroelectric and wind production, as well as the return to a lower proportion of renewable energy, when natural gas power plants were once again requested to supply part of the country’s demand.