Wind Parks in Portugal - 2024

Global Wind Day

Wind energy production in Portugal increased in 2024, but new projects are lacking to meet targets

 

A new joint report by APREN and INEGI shows that around half of the new capacity installed in 2024 comes solely from repowering.

 

On Global Wind Day, APREN – the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association – and INEGI – the Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering – released the new report “Wind Farms in Portugal”, developed under the joint project e2p – Endogenous Energy Portugal, which updates data on the evolution of wind energy in the country. The results show that, despite a slight increase in installed capacity, Portugal remains behind what is needed to meet the targets set out in the National Energy and Climate Plan 2030 (PNEC 2030).

 

According to this report, by the end of 2024, Portugal had 2,879 wind turbines spread across the country, producing the equivalent of more than a quarter of the electricity consumed nationwide (27.5%). The vast majority of this equipment is located on the mainland, with Viseu being the district with the highest installed wind energy capacity.

 

The report also compares Portugal’s installed capacity with that of other European countries analysed. Portugal ranks 10th in terms of wind power capacity. Germany tops the list with 72.7 GW.

 

In 2024, 14.1 TWh of onshore wind energy was produced, an increase of 9% compared to 2023. The expansion of wind energy relies mainly on interventions in existing wind farms, particularly repowering.

 

According to APREN, the figures reveal a worrying scenario: the expansion of wind energy in Portugal continues to depend primarily on interventions in existing parks – namely repowering – rather than the development of new wind farms.

 

In 2024, just over 70 MW of new wind capacity was installed, of which around half corresponds to repowering projects — that is, upgrading equipment in existing parks. The remaining new capacity represents an insufficient effort for the country to reach the targets of 10.4 GW of onshore wind and 2 GW of offshore wind projected for 2030.

 

The full report is available below.