Sunny, windy, wavy, and small, Portugal is uniquely suited to renewable energy; which it just proved by powering the nation of 10 million entirely with the forces of nature for 6 straight days.

It all started on Friday the 27th of October when the largest energy company in the nation, Redes Energéticas Nacionais, reported that conditions of wind and waves were generating the entirety of the nation’s energy supply.

They predicted the conditions would carry on through Saturday, but they actually kept on going for the next 5 days, including some periods when the nation’s grid was exporting renewable electricity to the grids in Spain.

In total, there were 149 hours of total renewables generation, 95 of which saw the Portuguese grid exporting to Spain, a run that broke the previous record for consecutive days of 100% renewable use.

Sponsors

Sponsors

Sponsors

While solar power is often seen as the most important renewable electricity source, the record began and carried on for many days in rainy, windy weather. That’s because, according to Canary Media, many turbines were built in the 1990s when solar panel installations were not cost-effective.

Even before that, many hydroelectric dams had been built after the fall of Portugal’s dictatorship in 1974.