Portugal runs for four days on clean renewable energy

In 2015, 48% of Portugal's electricity came from renewable sources like wind, solar and hydro, but the country hit a milestone when it ran completely off of renewable power for four days in a row.

For 107  hours, the country was covered.

“We are seeing trends like this spread across Europe last year with Denmark and now in Portugal," said Oliver Joy, a spokesman for the Wind Europe trade association.  "The Iberian peninsula is a great resource for renewables and wind energy, not just for the region but for the whole of Europe.”

Portugal added 550MW of wind capacity between 2013 and 2016, believing this to be a key componenet of fuel-less energy.  Joy emphatically pronounced that "wind could meet a quarter of Europe’s power needs in the next 15 years."

James Watson, the CEO of SolarPower Europe explains “this is a significant achievement for a European country, but what seems extraordinary today will be commonplace in Europe in just a few years. The energy transition process is gathering momentum and records such as this will continue to be set and broken across Europe.

"The age of inflexible and polluting technologies is drawing to an end."