this post was submitted on 26 Nov 2023
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Portugal Runs on 100% Renewables Dropping Consumer Electric Bills to Nearly Zero for 6 Days in a Row::In total, there were 149 hours of total renewables generation, 95 of which saw the Portuguese grid exporting to Spain

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[–] devfuuu 56 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'm pretty sure I still pay all the renewable energy I consume at home. I wish the bill was zero, that would be amazing.

[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm going to go ahead and assume that the article means it comes at zero cost to Portugal, as a country, thus not having to import it. It would be fairly misleading though.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

It still Should cost.

Renewable is far from free

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

it comes at zero cost to Portugal, as a country, thus not having to import it

i'm always confused by this. does this include traditional fuel or just the electric grid?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Nope, all of Portugal now only has electric vehicles. No air planes, only zeppelins and hot air balloons. No boats, only floaty arm bands, rafts, canoes, and kayaks.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

feeling edgy today, aren't we?

[–] eek2121 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Our electric company charges 25% more for renewables.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Ah, the old "I'm sucking your money tit as long as I can while my industry dies and I refuse to innovate with my profits" tax.

[–] LemmyIsFantastic 1 points 1 year ago (3 children)

There research and infrastructure costs. It's not like it's free.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Thats the "refuse to innovate with my profits" part I said

[–] LemmyIsFantastic -2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

And? It still is going to cost money.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Companies have obtained tons of public money for research, then charge extra for the research investment. Its a joke.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Correction, it has already cost us money, except the people receiving it were not responsible with the money.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I constantly hear about or see data that solar and wind power are quite a bit cheaper than other methods by now.

[–] LemmyIsFantastic -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Still costs money. It's never going to be free.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Well, in the short-term, yeah. But for the mid- to long-term, it's quite a traditional investment. Pay some money now to build renewables and decommission coal power plants, but eventually break even, because the running cost per kWh produced is quite a bit lower.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yea I was curious about that, is there a certain amount that's paid for? If it was all free, it would incentivize some people to exceed normal usage

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

As I understand, this happens when renewables 'overproduce' and we need to get rid of the power somehow. People can gladly use as much power as they want in that case. Even if someone fills up batteries for free to later sell back into the grid when production normalizes, that is actually very much what we want. It just adds storage capacity and ensures prices will stay low for longer.

[–] Illuminati 31 points 1 year ago

"Dropping Consumer Electric Bills to Nearly Zero" sorry, but this is a bunch of bullshit.

[–] skeezix 20 points 1 year ago

Portugal runs on renewables. America runs on Dunkins.

[–] higgsone 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Aren’t there any maintenance costs?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

149 hours of total renewables generation, 95 of which saw the Portuguese grid exporting to Spain

Pretty sure this is why. They sold the excess energy to Spain which probably paid for those costs by itself, leaving nothing to bill citizens for.

[–] Maalus 6 points 1 year ago

"nearly zero"

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

i'm glad for the renewable production hitting new heights

"consumer electric bills to nearly zero" is utter unsubstantiated bullshit, though

Portugal has one of the highest prices of electricity for consumers in the EU, while having one of the lowest purchasing powers

btw, shit is getting worse for most really, really fast, in part due to the gentrification and deluge of new residents with wallets unfathomably heavier coming from Germany, France, UK and USA to the new Florida of Europe

[–] datelmd5sum 4 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Isn't this news way older? Remember an article from a week or so ago, stating the exact same thing.

https://lemmy.world/post/8545023 sire was, all the same user. So no content, just farming.

[–] Something_Complex 3 points 1 year ago

Not true.

Source: Sou portugues caralho, and tbh the pope would suck my dick if it was true

[–] pathief 1 points 1 year ago

Yet... the electricity bill has tripled since July, as new taxes were introduced to fuck you over. Consumer bills are definitely not dropping and definitely not near zero.