Portugal

• Author(s): Fernandes, Miguel ; Marujo, R. ; Simões, T. ; Estanqueiro, Ana
• Date: 2012
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.9/1898
• Origin: Repositório do LNEG
• Subject(s): Energia eólica; Wind energy; Portugal
• Document Type: Part of book or chapter of book
• Language: English

Description

During 2011, Portugal experienced a strong reduction of electricity demand. With a decrease of 2.3%, the total consumption was 50.5 TWh (1). Due to a mild winter season, the most relevant renewable generation facilities (hydro and wind) experienced a strong production reduction in comparison with 2010. In 2011, Portuguese wind farms produced 21 GWh less than the previous year. It is only because of the decrease in consumption that wind penetration achieved a value of 18%. The growth of the wind sector has maintained the pace of 2010, and 315 MW were added. This amounts to a total installed capacity of 4,302 MW, representing 22% of the electric system’s installed capacity (1). In November 2011, a milestone for Portuguese offshore wind development was achieved with the successful deployment of its first offshore floating wind turbine – WindFloat (opening photo).