Lisbon, May 29, 2026 (Lusa) – World Energy Day is marked this year in Portugal after a period in which an Iberian blackout, grid-damaging storms, and renewed tension in international markets thoroughly tested the sector.
Public debate long centred primarily on bills and the renewable transition, but supply security and grid resilience have now gained significant weight. The government says that Portugal currently holds a "relatively robust" position regarding physical supply, though the country remains exposed to international prices.
Portugal's Secretary of State for Energy, Jean Barroca, distinguished between direct exposure to physical supply and economic exposure to international markets on Thursday. Speaking at a parliamentary hearing on the energy crisis triggered by the Middle East conflict and its impacts on Portugal, Barroca outlined the country's current status.
"Regarding physical supply, Portugal finds itself in a relatively robust position today," he said, pointing to strategic reserves, diversified supply infrastructure, Liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity at the Sines terminal, and national refining capacity to support his assessment.
Brazil and Algeria stood out as the main crude oil suppliers to Portugal in 2025, while Nigeria and Brazil led natural gas deliveries.
Barroca acknowledged that Portugal is not immune to international market developments despite this position. "Markets today are global and, when the international price of oil rises, it rises for everyone," he said, adding that fuel prices can depend more quickly on a tweet from the US president than on any measure adopted in Portugal.
The national energy bill represented 17.6% of the trade deficit in goods in 2025, marking the lowest value of the decade, the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology (DGEG) said. The import balance of energy products stood at €5.579 billion, down 5.3% from the previous year.
Crude oil and derivatives continued to dominate Portuguese energy imports nonetheless, accounting for 75% of the total value despite a 19% drop compared to 2024.
Renewables continue to hold a high share in the electricity sector, but 2025 showed signs of a slowdown. The Portuguese Renewable Energy Association (APREN) reported that renewables secured 75.6% of the electricity produced in mainland Portugal, but renewable incorporation in consumption fell to 68%, below the 86% target set for 2025 in the National Energy and Climate Plan.
APREN considered that 2025 marked "a turning point in the national electricity sector", characterised by reduced renewable incorporation and increased natural gas production following the blackout on 28 April 2025. Combined cycle production nearly quadrupled between May and August last year compared to the same period in 2024.
Latest data indicate a recovery in renewable share, however. Renewables guaranteed 77% of the electricity produced in mainland Portugal in April 2026, a month in which solar photovoltaic generation reached its highest value of the year, APREN said.
Grid resilience also took centre stage in the energy debate after Storm Kristin affected around three million consumers, though the simultaneous peak hit approximately one million.
The president of grid operator E-Redes, José Ferrari Careto, acknowledged this week that the electricity grid became "more fragile" after provisional repairs were made to quickly restore supply following the succession of storms.
"We heavily prioritised speed, which means that some of the solutions we implemented are not definitive," he said in parliament, adding that the company is now focussed on consolidating and increasing resilience in the affected areas.
Energy poverty continues to plague the sector alongside supply security and grid robustness. Portugal estimates that between 1.8 and 3 million people experience energy poverty, with 609,000 to 660,000 facing severe energy poverty, the National Long-Term Strategy to Combat Energy Poverty said.
The strategy, approved in 2024, aims to eradicate energy poverty by 2050 and outlines measures such as creating a National Energy Poverty Observatory and an "Energy Citizen Space" model.
The government approved a framework of measures in March for energy crisis situations, including mechanisms to accelerate renewables, reinforce grid access, create energy-sharing models, and protect consumers.
Barroca believes the structural response requires reducing external energy dependence through consumption electrification, grid reinforcement, storage, self-consumption, and renewable gases such as biomethane.
SCR/RYOL // AYLS
Lusa
