Lisbon, April 17, 2026 (Lusa) – Portuguese electric utilities company, EDP, increased electricity production by 4% in the first quarter to 19 Terawatt-hours (TWh), driven by wind and solar generation with renewable energy representing 91% of total production, the company reported on Friday.
"The increase in hydro and wind power generation, following successive storms since the end of January, has contributed to a significant rise in renewable energy production and a 48% fall in the average price of electricity in the Iberian Peninsula," EDP says in a press release sent to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM, the market regulator), containing provisional operational data for the first three months of the year.
The average electricity price in Iberia fell from €85.3 per Megawatt-hour (€/MWh) in the first quarter of 2025 to €44.2/MWh in the first quarter of 2026. The company noted a "temporarily low average price of €16.4/MWh recorded in February due to the excessive rainfall".
Hydro production in the Iberian Peninsula reached 4.3 TWh by March, exceeding expectations by 0.9 TWh as a result of “abundant water resources”, 52% above the historical average (+42% in the first quarter of 2025).
Wind and solar generation, meanwhile, rose by 4% year-on-year to 11.5 TWh (including distributed solar in Europe and Brazil), supported by a 6% increase in installed capacity over the past 12 months (with the largest contribution coming from North America, mainly in solar), and by improved wind and solar resources in Europe, with renewable resources remaining close to the long-term average, supporting the increase in production volumes.
The company led by Miguel Stilwell de Andrade reports a 4% year-on-year increase in thermal generation, driven by gas-fired generation in Portugal (+38% in the first quarter of 2025), “reflecting greater demand for ancillary services and flexible energy, following a temporary disruption to the transmission/interconnection system in February and March caused by storms”.
"Consequently, the component relating to electricity system services and restrictions on the final price of electricity, which is covered by electricity trading, saw a significant year-on-year increase," it says.
Electricity distributed by EDP in Iberia increased 1.1% year-on-year between January and March.
In Portugal, electricity demand in the company's distribution network rose 2.5%. A higher penetration of electric vehicles in the market, an increase in the number of customers, and higher average consumption per customer drove this growth. Total consumption increased 4.7% compared to the same period last year.
In Spain, electricity consumption in EDP's distribution area decreased 4% due to a temporary interruption by a major industrial client. This compares with a 1% year-on-year growth in electricity demand in mainland Spain.
Distributed electricity in Brazil increased 0.8% year-on-year, compared to a 7% growth in the first three months of 2025. This result followed "the normalisation of temperatures and higher penetration of distributed solar power." The number of connected customers rose 1.9% compared to the first quarter of 2025.
Data released by EDP indicates that reservoir levels stood at 94% at the end of March, a 10-year record for this time of year. This figure compares with 76% at the end of 2025 and 89% in March 2025.
"High reservoir levels are expected to sustain the performance of the flexible generation business in the coming quarters," it said.
EDP added 2.1 Gigawatts (GW) of total capacity over the last 12 months, including 2.0 GW from EDP Renováveis (EDPR). Capacity under construction reached 1.9 GW in March 2026. This reinforces the capacity planned for 2026 and subsequent years, with over 90% of the 1.5 GW capacity additions expected for 2026 installed or under construction.
Installed wind and solar capacity reached 21.2 GW (EBITDA + Equity) in the first quarter of 2026, a year-on-year increase of 1.3 GW (up 6% from the first quarter of 2025).
The energy company said that the execution of the 2026 asset rotation plan should concentrate on the second half of the year. By the first quarter, EDP had concluded the asset rotation transaction of a 150 MW wind portfolio in Greece.
PD/RYOL // AYLS
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