The News

Some days ago it was revealed that in March, the production of renewable energies in continental Portugal was higher than the consumption. Which is something unique in more than 40 years! Talking in numbers, the total production was 4712 GWh, while the total consumption was 4647GWh.

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In this last month, in two consecutive periods, the total demand was assured by renewable sources alone: 70 hours starting on 6 March, and 69 hours starting on 12 March.

Of course this is great news. We're breaking records again and again, thanks to a huge eolic and hydroelectric infrastructure!

But...

Our renewable energy production relies almost only on these sources, making us very vulnerable in the long summers we've been experiencing. In October we were burning fossil fuels like mad because of the severe drought. We didn't even had water for human consumption in some districts such as Viseu, let alone using it for producing energy. That left us with the eolic production, that depends on the (in)existence of wind on summer days.

And then there is the "backup" problem which I've talked about previously. Even if we renewably produce 100% of the energy we use, there is always the need to keep a gas station working in case the winds suddenly stops, or there's a peak in demand. That extra production energy is usually exported to Spain, which is not a great example regarding renewable sources.

You can see for yourself what I'm saying in the graphic on the right, taken from the great site electricity map. The energy exported to Spain is more or less the same as the produced using gas and biomass.

So what now?

Batteries

The advances in batteries can solve most of our problems regarding the situation. First of all, the energy storage capabilities: by accumulating hundreds MWh of energy, the country can store the excess of energy production (either for short-term, charging at night to discharge during the day, or in long-term, keeping good levels during windy or rainy days to help the production during the more difficult ones). This can keep the production of fossil fuel energy as low as possible.

Secondly, the capacity to deliver hundreds of MW of power in a matter of milisseconds. This can let the country stop using fossil fuel centrals during the self-sustainable days such as those 70h-period. By delivering almost immediately the energy required, the wind can suddenly stop that no shortage will ever happen.

_{Australian solution for shortages: the famous huge 100MW/129MWh powerpack built by Tesla. Source: Tesla}

Diversification

As with crypto trading, you should never put all the eggs in one basket. The maximum solar energy the country can provide is 460MW. Which is not a lot: we can produce almost 10 times more in Hydro energy, and 5GW for Eolic.

It seems obvious that diversifying, investing much more in solar energy, is crucial for long-term sustainability. We are still in the dark during dry windless summer nights, where there's no solar energy production either, but hopefully the battery solution would help solving that problem. This is a VERY sunny country..

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In the meantime...

Here are some great posts I read recently:

All About Batteries: What Kinds Are There? How Do They Work? by @alexbeyman

Who got the power? by @likedeeler

WTF is a witness and why you should give a damm! by @moonunit

in portuguese Um jardim de asfalto by @loukosporbola

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