Electricity production from renewable sources accounted for 86.2% of total electricity produced in Portugal in 2024, according to new data from INE, the country’s statistics office.
Renewable installed capacity rose to 20,777 MW during the year, equivalent to 78.1% of total installed electricity generation capacity. Photovoltaic energy recorded the strongest growth, with installed solar capacity increasing by 45.6% compared with 2023.
As the data showed, while Portugal continued to expand its renewable energy capacity in 2024, oil remained the country’s dominant source of primary energy.
Domestic energy production
Domestic energy production reached 8,018 kilotonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) in 2024, the highest level recorded during the period under review. Domestic production accounted for 39.4% of primary energy consumption and was almost entirely based on renewable sources.
Oil remained the country’s largest source of primary energy, accounting for 40.8% of the total energy mix.
Transport sector
The transport sector continued to present one of the main challenges for Portugal’s energy transition, accounting on average for 35.6% of final energy consumption between 2015 and 2024.
Fuel prices generally followed an upward trend during the period. After reaching a peak in 2022, average prices declined in 2023 and remained relatively stable throughout 2024 and 2025.
‘At the beginning of 2026, a sharp increase was observed, in a context of greater international uncertainty in energy markets, associated with the volatility of oil prices and the worsening of geopolitical tensions, particularly in the Middle East,’ INE noted.
In March 2026, the average price of standard petrol reached €1.833 per litre, 4.1 per cent higher than in January 2015. Road diesel prices rose more sharply over the same period, increasing by 14.4 per cent to €1.896 per litre.
‘Despite the increase in prices at the beginning of 2026, road fuel consumption remained relatively stable, confirming the limited elasticity of consumption in response to price changes in the short term,’ INE added.
In the transport sector, renewable energy represented 14.3% of energy use, above the EU average of 11.2%.
The country’s energy dependence remained above the EU average in 2024, standing at 64.5% compared with 57.3% across the European Union, ‘reflecting the lack of domestic fossil fuel production and the still significant role of oil, particularly in transport’, the statistics body said. Read more here.
