Portugal Generated 70% of Energy from Renewable Sources in First Quarter

[HiPointDem]

REN, the Portuguese grid operator, has just released new figures that show that nearly three quarters of the country’s energy needs were met by renewable energy sources during the first three months of the year.

Portugal was able to generate 70% of its electricity needs in the first quarter of 2013 due to a combination of favourable weather conditions and huge investment in wind and hydro-electric projects over recent years.

Portugal’s hydroelectric generating capacity has increased by 312% over the last year, now accounting for 37% of Portugal’s total energy consumption, and wind energy rose 60% in the same timeframe, providing 27% of the nation’s energy demand.

Coal-fired power stations now contribute 29% less electricity to the grid and natural gas-fired power stations contribute 44% less, compared to the first quarter of 2012. It is very likely that this reduction in fossil fuel use has led to a significant drop in carbon emissions.

Over recent years Portugal’s energy demand has been falling by around 6%, but in the first quarter of 2013 that shrank to a decrease of just 0.4%, and then energy demand grew by 4.7% in March. The energy demand initially fell due to the economic slowdown, but now the country’s economy has grown a little due to the new ability to export the excess energy; this could be the reason for the recent increase in demand.

This achievement by Portugal is likely to be a world record for a major economy.

http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Portugal-Generated-70-of-Energy-from-Renewable-Sources-in-First-Quarter.html

[green for victory]

1. Serpa Solar Power Plant

[IMG][/IMG]
Coordinates: 38°1′51″N 7°37′22″W

Construction of the 11 megawatt Serpa solar power plant began in June 2006 and was completed as planned in January 2007, at the cost of 58 million euro.[1] The facility is located in Serpa, in Portugal's Alentejo agricultural region, 200 kilometers (120 mi) southeast of Lisbon. The plant uses SunPower subsidiary PowerLight's PowerTracker system to follow the sun's daily path across the sky and generate more electricity than conventional fixed-mounted systems.[2] The plant provides enough electricity to supply approximately 8,000 homes.

The Serpa solar power plant was developed by the Portuguese company Catavento and it incorporates photovoltaic modules from SunPower, Sanyo, Sharp and Suntech. General Electric Financial Services provided the financing for the project as part of its Ecomagination program.[3]

Generating electricity from the sun with no fuel costs or emissions, the Serpa plant is on a 60-hectare (150-acre) hillside and is a model of clean power generation integrated with agriculture. The project supports a European Union initiative by saving more than 30,000 tons a year in greenhouse gas emissions compared to equivalent fossil fuel generation. The EU agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent by 2020, from 1990 levels
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpa_solar_power_plant

[jpak]

2. K&R

[aquart]

3. Go Portugal!

Blush America for shame.