2024-01-02 16:11:00
Portugal, a European model? The country announced that it had reached a new historic record for the production of renewable energies (ENR) in 2023. The latter provided 61% of the electricity consumed in the Iberian country, the manager of national energy networks (REN) indicated on Tuesday ). While total electricity consumption reached its highest level since 2018, non-renewable energy production accounted for only 19% of this consumption, as Portugal imported 20% of its electricity needs in 2023.
In detail, for a total of 31.2 terawatt-hours (TWh) in renewable energies, wind power produced 25% of the electricity consumed in Portugal last year, ahead of hydroelectricity (23%), l photovoltaic energy (7%) and biomass (6%), said REN in a press release.
More dams and solar, less gas
In terms of development, it is the production of hydroelectric energy which has experienced the greatest increase (+70%), following a year 2022 marked by drought. The list of highest increases in production is followed by photovoltaics (+43%), which benefited from a gradual increase in installed capacity.
In contrast, consumption of natural gas, imported by sea mainly from Nigeria (42%) and the United States (40%), fell by 21% over one year, falling to its lowest level since 2014.
Germany above 50% renewable energy
In Germany too, 2023 is synonymous with strong development of ENR. Clean energy sources have “ covered 52% of electricity consumption in 2023 » of the country, five points more than last year, indicated the BDEW, the German trade organization for the energy and water industry, in a press release.
« This is the first time that this rate has exceeded the 50% mark. “, she congratulated herself. Consumption of renewable electricity was particularly high in July, with a rate of 59%, according to BDEW.
These figures were notably achieved thanks to an increase in the production of renewable energies: it increased by 6% over one year. In detail, onshore wind power had a year “ record » with an increase of 13.4%, offsetting the significant drop in offshore wind production, which decreased by 8.6%. Photovoltaics saw its production increase by 4.6%, even reaching a level “ historical » in June, with 113.5 billion kilowatt hours. The share of coal, which had increased last year, once morest a backdrop of the cessation of Russian gas deliveries to Germany due to the war in Ukraine, fell once more in 2023, to 26%, once morest 31.6 % in 2022. From January to September 2022, the production of solar panel modules increased by 44% year-on-year, following an increase of 75% over the same period in 2021.
As a reminder, the German government has set itself the objective of 80% renewable electricity in consumption by 2030. To achieve its goals, it has released billions of euros of investment for the transition. green its economy. And the greening of energy even goes beyond Germany’s borders. In mid-September, MEPs adopted legislation almost doubling the share of renewables in energy consumption by 2030 in the EU, which the 27 had already approved at the cost of an exemption on hydrogen produced from nuclear power. to satisfy Paris.
France not ambitious enough according to Greenpeace
Unlike the two European countries cited, France is “ lagging behind » compared to its neighbors on the renewable energy front for the years to come, Greenpeace said on December 19. Compared Compared to Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal, France almost systematically ranks at the bottom of the pack in terms of objectives for 2030, notes Greenpeace.
The NGO takes the example of solar energy. France has set itself the objective of installing a capacity of 66 to 77 megawatts (MW) per km² by 2030. The five other countries oscillate between 114 and 416 MW per km². Thus, according to the NGO, the country should target production located “between 100 and 120 gigawatts (GW) of photovoltaic solar power in 2030”, once morest the 54 to 60 GW currently targeted by the government. And “between 50 and 55 GW of onshore wind power in 2030” once morest the current objective of 33 to 35 GW.
However, the French State plans to exceed 100 GW for solar power alone by 2050 and reach 40 GW for wind power during the same period. To achieve this, last spring it adopted the law to accelerate renewable energies. Moreover, the NGO’s criticisms did not worry the executive. Thus, the Ministry of Energy Transition responded that “the French electricity mix has the particularity of being very carbon-free”. That “allows our country to contribute for a long time to controlling the European Union’s greenhouse gas emissions”, he added shortly following the NGO’s criticism, insisting on the fact that France is the nuclear champion per capita. An argument contested by Greenpeace, for whom nuclear power is “too slow to deploy to have a significant impact in 2030”.
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