On an overcast afternoon in late autumn, when wind and rain usually represent obstacles to energy planners, Portugal found itself in the rarest of positions: basking in abundance. Between October 31 and November 6, 2023, the country ran its electricity grid entirely on renewable power for 149 consecutive hours, exporting surplus clean energy to Spain on many of those days.
It was a moment of nearly cinematic grace: a nation of 10 million lighting up homes and businesses without burning a single fossil fuel, tipping a hopeful glance toward a future once considered distant.
When The Wind Howled, The Turbines Sang
The achievement unfolded without fanfare. On October 31, Portugal’s national grid operator, REN (Redes Energéticas Nacionais), confirmed that the nation’s renewable systems—wind, hydro, solar, and biomass—were collectively producing more electricity than the country required.
Over the following days, nature offered perfect cooperation. Strong winds swept across the Atlantic, rivers swelled to power hydroelectric plants, and even periods of rain and overcast skies could not slow production.
Backup gas plants remained on standby throughout the period, but their intervention was never necessary. Favorable weather patterns, coupled with a resilient energy infrastructure, allowed renewable sources to sustain the nation’s entire electricity demand with impressive consistency.
In total, within those 149 hours, Portugal produced 1,102 GWh of electricity, while consuming around 840 GWh. That surplus — 262 GWh — was either exported or stored.
During 95 of those hours, the country exported renewable energy to Spain — a remarkable reversal of roles for a nation that sometimes imports electricity during leaner seasons.
A Dance Of Old And New Infrastructure
This milestone did not appear from thin air. Portugal’s energy landscape has long had certain advantages: decent hydro capacity, Atlantic winds, sunny stretches in summer. Unlike many nations, Portugal chose not to rely on nuclear, but instead leaned into renewables decades ago.
The country shuttered its last coal plants in 2021, clearing the path for a cleaner grid.
In many ways, October–November 2023 was a stress test. Could Portugal operate for days without conventional “backup” sources? The answer was a cautious yes. The fossil-fuel plants stood ready but were never needed.
Still, the event mustn’t be conflated with perpetual “100 % renewables” operation. It was a window of favorable weather, ample water in reservoirs, and effective grid management. The rest of the year demands flexibility, storage, and demand balancing.
Why Electricity Bills Nearly Vanished — Temporarily
When Portugal’s renewables-filled surplus stretched over multiple days, wholesale electricity prices plummeted. On many hours, generation costs dropped “almost to zero.”
The Good News Network noted that consumer bills “dropped to nearly zero” during the stretch. What’s important to emphasize is that this refers mostly to the variable cost of generation. In electricity pricing, consumers also pay for infrastructure, transmission, grid maintenance, and fixed fees. Those portions don’t evaporate simply because generation becomes abundant.
Still, the moment delivered a powerful signal: when the fuel cost disappears, so, too, does much of the volatility that drives energy poverty for many households.
Beyond The Six-Day Triumph: Progress And Challenges
Just days of “net 100 % renewables” are inspiring, but the real test lies in scaling that success across seasons and years. In 2023, renewables already supplied about 61 % of Portugal’s electricity — an all-time high. The national goal is more ambitious: 85 % renewables by 2030, and carbon neutrality by 2045.
To match that vision, new projects are underway. In March 2024, EDP Renováveis brought its largest solar farm in Portugal online — a 202 MW installation dubbed the “Cerca project,” able to supply roughly 100,000 households.
Additionally, the Portuguese government has signaled plans to raise the renewable share in final energy consumption from about 34.7 % (in 2022) to 51 % by 2030. A more aggressive draft plan also suggests a 93 % renewable share in electricity consumption by 2030, upping the bar further.
That said, challenges loom:
- Intermittency and balance: Wind and solar fluctuate. Hydropower helps smooth variability, but storage (batteries, pumped hydro) is still scaling.
- Grid resilience: A blackout across Spain and Portugal in April 2025 exposed vulnerabilities in the Iberian grid. The outage lasting around 10 hours deepened urgency to bolster domestic grid strength.
- Regulatory friction: Taxes on renewable sector profits — like the CESE levy — had discouraged investment. In May 2024, Portugal’s Constitutional Court declared that levy unconstitutional.
- Import dependence: When domestic production falls short, Portugal still leans on electricity imports, often from Spain.
Portraits Of Hope: Behind The Turbines
Maria, a schoolteacher in Coimbra, woke up one evening during that week to see wind turbines spinning on distant hills. She told a neighbor: “Tonight, the wind is lighting our lives.” She was only half-joking.
In a small village near a newly built solar farm, an elderly man with decades on his land stood watching the panels stretch across fields. He said, “These panels are my grandchildren’s inheritance. The wind and sun won’t bill them like oil and coal did me.”
These quiet human moments mirror a deeper shift: energy is no longer just about megawatts and policy — it is about dignity, stability, and shared legacy.
A Turning Point, Not An Endpoint
Portugal’s six-day run on 100 % renewables is not a mythic achievement reserved for posterity. It’s a hinge on which future energy narratives pivot. It proved that, under the right conditions, a modern industrial society can rely entirely on clean power.
But the pathway ahead is as much about governance, social justice, and systems as it is about turbines and panels. It demands resilience against drought, regulatory certainty, strong storage ecosystems, and grid architecture that tolerates fluctuation.
When the next gust comes, the chance is there again. And when that chance turns into a hundred more opportunities, Portugal — and perhaps many others — can flip the narrative from “if” to “already.”
