In 2021
Electricity production increased by 4.9% compared to the previous year
In 2021, the electricity production, estimated from the data on the distribution of electric energy provided by the Madeira Electricity Company, increased by 4.9% compared to the previous year.
Breaking down the production mix associated with the distribution of electricity by source - whose total was about 859.4 Gigawatt-hours (Gwh) - it is worth highlighting that electricity generated by wind power increased by 53.0%, that generated by hydropower by 27.9% and finally that generated by photovoltaic sources by 6.5%. This increase was accompanied by a drop in production from other sources, mainly solid waste (-13.9%) and thermal power (-3.2%). As a result, the share of distributed energy using thermal sources decreased from 73.1% in 2020 to 67.4% in the reporting period, which means that the production of renewable energy has increased to a share of 32.6% in 2021 (26.9% in the previous year).
It is worth noting that the distribution of electricity generated by thermal source was 579.4 GWh, the lowest value since the beginning of the series (2009). It should also be noted that the distribution of energy generated from wind power reached an all-time high of 129.6 GWh.
It should also be mentioned that the production of natural gas represented 22.0% of the total production mix (20.1% in 2020), an increase of 15.0% compared to the prior year.
Finally, it should be highlighted that the distribution of electricity increased by 8.5% in the 4th quarter of 2021, compared to the same period of the previous year.
DREM releases data on the Energy Balance for the year 2020
DREM also publishes today, on its website, data compiled by the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology (DGEG), namely the energy balance for 2020.