LISBON, Jan. 1 — Electricity consumption supplied through the public grid reached its highest level ever in Portugal’s National Electricity System (SEN) in 2025, according to data released on Thursday by Redes Energeticas Nacionais (REN), Portugal’s national power grid operator.
Total consumption stood at 53.1 terawatt-hours (TWh) over the year, representing an increase of 3.2 percent compared with the previous year, or 2.3 percent when adjusted for temperature effects and the number of working days, REN said.
Renewable electricity generation reached a new historical record of 37 TWh, accounting for 68 percent of total consumption.
This figure is “in line with the 70 percent recorded in the previous year, even when considering the technical restrictions imposed on electricity generation to safeguard the security of supply in the SEN in the period immediately following the blackout of April 28,” the operator noted.
Non-renewable electricity generation totaled 7.9 TWh and was “almost entirely from natural gas,” an increase of 54 percent compared with the previous year, which “had recorded a particularly low level and accounted for 15 percent of national consumption.”
Natural gas-based generation has played a smaller role in recent years “due to the growing availability of renewable energy and the use of electricity imports from Spain,” REN added. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
