PORTUGAL has Europe's lowest price for energy because of its use of renewables, despite the fact Scotland's green energy consumption is higher.
According to network operator REN, renewable energy generation covered 95% of Portugal’s electricity demand in April, helping to push power prices to a four-year low.
Recent figures show hydroelectric plants made up 48% of Portugal’s power generation currently this year, followed by wind at 30%, solar at 7%, and biomass at 6%.
Gas only made up 9% of the total in the first four months as the European nation also consistently had the lowest wholesale electricity prices in Europe so far this year.
According to the research group Ember energy prices cost on average £11.39/MWh and it is the cheapest it has been for six years.
Portugal’s renewable share in the energy mix has increased by 54% in 2017 and this is largely due to investing in hydroelectric and the closure of the nation’s last coal-fired power plant in 2021.
Comparably Scotland’s renewable technologies generated the equivalent of 113% of the country’s overall electricity consumption in 2022, according to statistics from the Scottish Government this year.
In the same year, the energy mix for the whole of the UK was gas 38.5%, wind 26.8%, nuclear 15.5%, biomass 5.2%, coal 1.5%, solar 4.4%, and hydro 1.8%.
At the time Energy Secretary Neil Gray said the figures showed, “a significant milestone in Scotland’s journey to net zero”.
He added: “For the first time Scotland has produced more renewable electricity than it consumed, demonstrating the enormous potential of Scotland’s green economy.”
However, despite this feat, the UK has the fourth highest energy prices in the whole of Europe at 56.68 £p/kWh, with the European average being around 26.67 £p/kWh.
Although Scottish households don’t pay more than the rest of the UK to energy suppliers, they do however pay more on average in transmission and distribution charges.
The Highlands are paying almost double than people in London despite living nearer to energy producing sites like windfarms.
Residents in the north of Scotland pay a required daily transmission fee of around 61p a day which is 50% more compared to those in London who pay around 40p.
This is despite research by the Parliamentary Library showing that while the population of the Highland Council area comprises only 0.36% of the UK total, the area provides 5.5% of the UK installed capacity for renewables.
