Portugal is done with coal. It is the fourth country in the EU

Do you know what officially connected Portugal with Austria, Belgium and Sweden? The complete abandonment of coal-fired power plants, as Portugal has just closed its last coal-fired power plant as the fourth country in the European Union.

The last coal-fired power plant closed down in Portugal

The complete shutdown of coal-fired power plants was an important part of Portugal’s strategy to reduce emissions, but it was originally planned to do so only in 2030. The country committed to this date four years ago at COP23, and while it gave itself a full 13 years to implement it, it managed to do so after just 4 years.

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Even the closure of the Pego coal-fired power plant was faster than it should have been, because officially it was not supposed to take place last Friday, but on the last Monday of November. Since Saturday, Portugal has ceased to generate energy using coal, and the Pego plant in Abrantes itself was the second largest emitter of CO₂ in the country.

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So where does Portugal get its electricity? Mostly (60-70%) from renewable energy sources, but the remainder still relies on imported fossil fuels to meet its remaining energy needs. In turn, the owner of the 682-megawatt Pego power plant is now considering converting it to burn wood pellets. However, it may turn out to be only a temporary rescue for the facility, because the EU is already considering tightening the regulations on whether the energy from burning wood can be classified as clean.