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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[–] [email protected] 56 points 9 months 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 9 months 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 9 months ago

It still Should cost.

Renewable is far from free

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

feeling edgy today, aren't we?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Our electric company charges 25% more for renewables.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 9 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (3 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] -2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

And? It still is going to cost money.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

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

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months 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.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months 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 9 months 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 9 months 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.