Portugal: Erneuerbar, um jeden Preis

Ich stelle die Hypothese auf, dass man kein Land auf diesem Planeten findet, welches mehrheitlich erneuerbar produzierten Strom konsumiert, und der Strom dort günstiger ist als in Ländern, welche die Mehrheit ihres Stroms mit Atomkraft und fossilen Energieträgern produzieren. Aber hey, die Rettung des Planeten muss uns das Wert sein!

In January 2022, 4,085 GWh of electricity were generated in mainland Portugal, where 63.64% came from renewable sources being 31.27% wind, 17.78% hydro, 6.99% bioenergy, 3.80% solar and 3.80 pumping. However, Portugal still remains reliant on imported gas, as the remaining 36.36% came mainly from natural gas, which accounted a 31.27%. […]

Unfortunately, Portugal has some of the highest prices for electricity in Europe thanks to taxes. According to Eurostat, we pay €0.2246 per kWh here which is 22% higher than in the UK. The “taxes and charges” component in Portugal is one of the highest in Europe and practically doubles the final price of electricity compared to the base value in Portugal according to EDP.

The other question frequently asked is why isn’t power from renewables cheaper? The simple answer to that is that the businesses that install and maintain them are not charities. They survive by making a profit, which seems reasonable. Also consider the capital investment needed to construct and install the units, be they solar, wind or even tide power. The old expression goes that there is no such thing as a free lunch. The sun wind and tides are free, but the equipment needed to harness what they produce isn’t. You may feel that the government should subsidise the equipment, but that would come from our taxes.

Whichever way you look at it, renewables are saving our planet, not our pockets.

Quelle: 54% of Portugal’s electricity is now generated by renewable energy

Auch erhellend: Electrimap für Portugal.