electronrun.com

Source: Guardian

With regions blessed by Europe’s highest solar radiation, Portugal is not leaving its energy issues to chance. Already having the currently largest photovoltaic energy farm in the world, another PV farm that is currently under construction in the Moura region will reach 45MW to power 30,000 homes.

But things are not stopping there, Portugal is determined to minimise its oil dependence with widespread deployment of solar, wind and wave energy generation projects. Predictably, very little can be done about transport, so all the weight falls to electrical energy generation. To achieve total clean energy use of 31% by 2020, renewable electrical energy generation must rise from the current 20% -still impressive by most other country standards- to a whopping 60%.

While in the last three years hydroelectric power generation has trebled and wind power generation has quadrupled, there is plans for companies to invest €140 billion in green energy generation by 2020. And very importantly, for all projects the Portuguese insist on collaboration with local industry to form new clusters, enhance technical know-how and create new jobs. The result? Components that would be otherwise imported are now manufactured locally, for example blades for wind turbines. Together with solar and wind farms, Portugal will soon boast the first wave energy farm, a project that many countries follow with interest as it could spawn many other farms.

All this positions Portugal well for the forthcoming renewables economy. High local demand is the start, but exports have already started and are expected to significantly grow in the future. Unlike many countries that eye nuclear energy as the big saviour, Portugal is confident that sun, wind and sea are enough and it wants to compete in renewable energy with Japan and Denmark. From what has been achieved so far and by the way things develop, Portugal might become the development model for all other southern European countries.

[Guardian]