Message from the President - April 2021
As has happened in the past, the month of April brought new and very important developments for renewables in our country, which are currently central in all socioeconomic recovery strategies.
With the first quarter of the year closed, it is with great satisfaction that we can see that 79.5% of the electricity generated on Portuguese soil comes from renewable energy sources. A strong, solid figure, in line with the PNEC 2030 target of 80% electricity consumed from renewable sources. Both the present and the future look promissing.
April was also a very important month in terms of supporting Green Hydrogen as a central technology for the decarbonisation of sectors that are difficult or impossible to electrify directly. I underline the High Level Conference of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Council with the title “Hydrogen in Our Societies - Building bridges”, organized by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action. I had the pleasure of representing APREN in it, as moderator in the panel “Funding & financing the hydrogen economy: an integrated perspective”.
The conference provided us with some good news: a Memorandum of Understanding between the Portuguese government and the European Investment Bank. It shows the latter's availability to ensure financial support for eligible Green Hydrogen projects, technical assistance and consultancy, in order to promote investments in this sector in Portugal and improve the financing capacity of projects.
The agreement supports the national strategies set out in the 2030 National Energy and Climate Plan, the National H2 Strategy and the Roadmap for Carbon Neutrality 2050. It is also aligned with the European Hydrogen Strategy, promoting the developing a green hydrogen economy.
Despite these good signs for the development of Green Hydrogen projects and for the Renewables sector as a whole, there is still some confusion about some topics on the part of society, as sometimes portrayed in the press.
In order to clarify the matter as much as possible and to promote the usefulness of this investment (which is a national and European one), APREN has developed a Q&A document that answers the main doubts. The document is availbale on our website an in the media. It will also be disseminated through our social networks.
It is unquestionable that renewables have contributed to lower prices in the Iberian electricity market, as can be seen in the first quarter of this year. Without renewables, electricity prices would be higher, as happened on January 8th, for example, the day when the highest average price ever recorded in the Iberian market, and the day when there was nearly no wind production in the Iberian Peninsula. This day, the average daily price was around 95 € / MWh. A similar figure had only been reached in 2013, on December 8th, the day when 93.11 € / MWh was reached.
In March, two important events took place in the course of APREN's activity: the Ordinary General Assembly and a General Council Meeting. Important topics were discussed at the latter, and important reflections resulted from it, such as the identification of new themes for the Association's activities, which I will announce in due time.
The discussion of all strategic themes for our country’s energy strategy must actually take place. It will be supported by facts, that are the base of APREN’s line o action.
Because Portugal needs our Energy!