Portugal added around 546 MW of new PV systems in the first half of this year, according to provisional data released by the country's General Directorate of Energy and Geology. Of the 546 megawatts added, 225 megawatts correspond to utility-scale solar projects, while the remaining 321 megawatts come from self-consumption production units installed in households as well as in the commercial and industrial sectors, a spokesman for the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association said. .

In 2021, the country installed around 570 MW of new solar capacity. As a result, the first half of 2022 will see almost as much solar additions as it will in all of 2021. Figures released in February showed 701 MW of new solar capacity in 2021, but have since been updated. Newly installed capacity in 2020 and 2019 reached 151 MW and 252 MW, respectively.

As of the end of June, Portugal's cumulative installed PV capacity reached 2.19 GW. Solar is the fastest growing technology in relative terms, increasing from 299 MW in 2013 to 2,192 MW in 2022, an increase of 633%.

Portugal's National Energy and Climate Plan 2030 sets a target of 6.6 GW of total PV capacity and 9 GW by 2025 and 2030, an APREN spokesman said. Currently, about 3.45 GW of solar projects are licensed to produce but not licensed to operate. DGEG data. Given the current pace of development of PV plant installations, the 9 GW target will only be reached by 2030 if the difficulties inherent in the licensing process are overcome.

Overall, Portugal currently operates around 16 GW of renewable energy capacity, most of which is 7.35 GW of hydro and 5.64 GW of wind. While hydropower remains the country's largest source of renewable energy in absolute terms, its annual production fell by 38% between June 2021 and June 2022. Annual production of solar energy rose 27% over the same period. Keywords: engineering news, overseas news

Solar power generation reached an all-time high in July, accounting for 9% of the country's total power generation, according to APREN. The country also broke previous records in June and May, when solar accounted for 8.6% and 8.2% of total electricity generation, respectively.Editor/XingWentao