The latest data from the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association (Associação Portuguesa de Energias Renováveis, APREN) revealed that, in May 2024, the incorporation of renewable energy in Portugal reached a remarkable 84.5%, marking a significant increase over the previous year. This milestone underscores the country's continued commitment to the transition to a more sustainable and cost-efficient energy matrix. However, it also raises questions about the speed with which Portugal is progressing towards the targets set for 2030 and 2050. 4t4r48

With the recent update of the National Energy and Climate Plan 2023-2030 (PNEC), which doubles the PV capacity target to 20.4 gigawatts (GW) operational in 2030 (up from 9 GW in the previous plan), the challenges to reach these targets are more urgent than ever. This ambitious increase reflects the growing need to accelerate investments and policies aimed at strengthening renewable energy infrastructure and development in Portugal.

The fourth edition of Energyear Portugal highlighted this scenario with the "Driving the Energy Transition in Portugal: Renewable Energy Challenges and Targets", with the participation of Jerónimo Meira da Cunha, General Director of Energy and Geology; Pedro Amaral Jorge, President and CEO of APREN; Miguel Lobo, Country Head of Lightsource bp; and Alexandre Kisslinger, CEO of Portugal at Acciona Energia, moderated by Miguel de Vasconcelos Ferreira, CEO of Megajoule.

The experts discussed in depth and analytically critical obstacles such as complex licensing, the need for accelerated electrification in industrial sectors and strategies to mitigate curtailment.

One by one analysis

For the Director-Geral of the Direção Geral de Energia e Geologia, the accelerated pace of solar power installation in Portugal in the first five months of the year is favorable. However, he expressed concern about the imbalance between incoming solar capacity and current consumption. He stressed that it is "necessary to increase new consumption to balance this growing capacity".

Da Cunha noted recent improvements in the licensing process, although significant challenges remain: "Complaint capital has been reduced in recent months, but we still face difficulties, especially related to the lack of flexibility in hiring qualified personnel". This complexity in the licensing process also seems to be due to internal confusion. According to the expert, "decisions are often delayed between related entities, which can result in licenses being granted without sufficient information. It is critical that all parties involved take responsibility and remain engaged throughout the process."

For his part, APREN's President and CEO emphasized the importance of keeping the energy targets unchanged: "The targets must not be touched. If we don't reach them in 2030, we will reach them in 2031 or 2032. It is crucial to maintain continuity in our targets to ensure stability and progress in the energy transition." Jorge stressed the need to design a market that adequately remunerates renewable energies to ensure their sustained growth.

APREN's CEO criticized the lack of concrete action to address the current problems of the energy market: "It does not help to keep discussing problems without implementing effective actions to solve them. In a market saturated with renewables and with producers facing zero prices, we need pragmatic solutions". He also stressed that the increase in consumption is fundamental to encourage the expansion of energy capacity and acknowledged deficiencies in the conditions for electrification in Portugal.

In this sense, Jorge advocated fiscal measures that encourage the electrification of consumption and the attraction of investments in industries with a penalized carbon footprint. He stressed the importance of not delaying electrification, as this could hinder the installation of new energy capacity.

He was ed in this analysis by the Country Head of Lightsource bp, who agreed that the country's renewable targets are "extremely ambitious and we must segment them between production and consumption. It is crucial to constantly update these targets to assess their feasibility and adjust them as needed with the new energy plan."

Lobo also identified several significant obstacles related to licensing and the availability of adequate human resources for renewable energy projects: "Capturing human capital with the necessary characteristics for our teams is a challenge. In addition, Portuguese contractors are scarce and many prefer to work in Spain, which makes it even more difficult to meet construction goals."
Regarding the electricity market, Lobo also shared concerns about the significant decrease in electricity prices, as well as an increase in interest rates that has negatively impacted construction costs. In addition, he emphasized the urgent need to double electricity consumption by 2030 as part of the energy expansion goals.

The goals were also on the lips of Acciona Energía's CEO Portugal. Kisslinger was emphatic: "the targets set for the energy transition must be maintained, and we must not touch them". However, he also shared the urgency of the stagnation in consumption and the insufficient speed of electrification compared to what was planned. From his perspective, it is crucial to comprehensively address generation, infrastructure and consumption aspects to avoid inefficient investments and low prices.

Kisslinger also mentioned repowering as a key measure, although he acknowledged that it is currently easier to build new parks than to upgrade existing ones due to a lack of adequate incentives. He proposed improving this situation to optimize installed capacity and the efficiency of the energy system. Finally, he emphasized the economic constraints faced by developers due to low prices and high operating costs, which sometimes lead to non-production decisions. In addition to recalling the urgent need to increase consumption, he called for adjusting the market to mitigate these restrictions and optimize investments in renewable energies in Portugal.

With more than 350 participants in attendance, this new edition of Energyyear Portugal opened the debate on the progress towards the integration of renewable energies in Portugal, but also highlighted the urgency of accelerating electrification and optimizing investments to achieve the established energy goals.