Portugal — physical cross-border flows, 2026

Every month of the year, every border, in energy and in money. Flows are measured; each megawatt-hour is valued at Portugal's own day-ahead price for the quarter-hour it actually crossed in.

Month by month

All borders together, with consumption for scale.

Month Consumption, MWh Physical exports Physical imports Zone price, €/MWh Difference € Import ÷ consumption
MWh€/MWh€ MWh€/MWh€
January 5,402,051 371,470 60.08 22,316,219 681,763 75.27 51,315,045 71.04 −28,998,825 12.6%
February 4,580,521 434,091 8.87 3,850,982 186,578 3.99 744,102 10.69 3,106,880 4.1%
March 4,634,309 315,257 66.51 20,968,186 752,337 11.14 8,384,788 40.82 12,583,398 16.2%
April 4,088,015 134,854 63.01 8,496,461 1,204,370 21.02 25,321,885 42.56 −16,825,424 29.5%
May 4,228,553 108,856 104.13 11,335,284 1,332,724 22.04 29,369,663 54.07 −18,034,379 31.5%
June 4,237,975 21,924 113.68 2,492,425 1,451,897 48.76 70,788,546 70.28 −68,296,121 34.3%
July 4,616,114 14,715 189.12 2,782,867 1,593,647 72.43 115,422,968 107.05 −112,640,101 34.5%
August 4,300,608 22,542 186.36 4,200,937 1,598,031 81.30 129,919,465 121.37 −125,718,527 37.2%
September34.0% of hours 1,466,929 3,655 232.26 849,001 539,080 100.81 54,346,740 143.72 −53,497,738 36.7%
Total 37,555,073 1,427,364 54.15 77,292,362 9,340,427 51.99 485,613,200 67.88 −408,320,838 24.9%

Consumption is measured separately, as the hourly average power summed over the month — not by adding up readings, since sources publish at different rates. The last column puts imports next to it for scale; it is not a dependency figure, because part of what enters passes straight through to another neighbour.

Where the difference comes from

408,320,838 € for 7,913,063 MWh that stayed in the country works out at 51.60 € per megawatt-hour, in a month that averaged 67.88.

  • Energy that stayed, at the month's average price 537,150,815 131.6%
  • What came in arrived above that average −148,429,292 -36.4%
  • What went out left below it 19,599,315 4.8%

The first line is energy the country needed and got. The other two — 128,829,977 € together — come not from how much moved but from when: cheap hours to sell in, expensive hours to buy in. That is the price of a timing mismatch, not a loss.

Official validation

The measured physical flow, checked against ANRE's published commercial trade.

Month Physical net, MWh Commercial net, MWh Difference, MWh Status
January ——— AWAITING OFFICIAL ANRE DATA
February ——— AWAITING OFFICIAL ANRE DATA
March ——— AWAITING OFFICIAL ANRE DATA
April ——— AWAITING OFFICIAL ANRE DATA
May ——— AWAITING OFFICIAL ANRE DATA
June ——— AWAITING OFFICIAL ANRE DATA
July ——— AWAITING OFFICIAL ANRE DATA
August ——— AWAITING OFFICIAL ANRE DATA
September ——— AWAITING OFFICIAL ANRE DATA

Gross volumes differ by design: the official indicators include transits, and a transit is counted once entering and once leaving, while a physical border sees it only once. Net figures converge, because transits cancel out — which is why the comparison is made on the net.

The percentage relates the difference to the month's commercial net. In a month with a small net, the same difference in MWh yields a larger percentage — which is why the difference is always shown in MWh as well.

ANRE publishes these exchanges as a physical balance in GWh. It publishes no import or export value and no average price per direction, so no money comparison is possible.

Physical cross-border flows and commercial electricity trades measure different phenomena. ANRE data is shown as an independent official benchmark and should not be interpreted as an exact reconciliation.

Border by border

Spain

Month by month, Portugal's side of this border.

Month Physical exports MWh €/MWh € Physical imports MWh €/MWh € Difference €
January 371,470 60.08 22,316,219 681,763 75.27 51,315,045 −28,998,825
February 434,091 8.87 3,850,982 186,578 3.99 744,102 3,106,880
March 315,257 66.51 20,968,186 752,337 11.14 8,384,788 12,583,398
April 134,854 63.01 8,496,461 1,204,370 21.02 25,321,885 −16,825,424
May 108,856 104.13 11,335,284 1,332,724 22.04 29,369,663 −18,034,379
June 21,924 113.68 2,492,425 1,451,897 48.76 70,788,546 −68,296,121
July 14,715 189.12 2,782,867 1,593,647 72.43 115,422,968 −112,640,101
August 22,542 186.36 4,200,937 1,598,031 81.30 129,919,465 −125,718,527
September 3,655 232.26 849,001 539,080 100.81 54,346,740 −53,497,738
Total 1,427,364 54.15 77,292,362 9,340,427 51.99 485,613,200 −408,320,838

Method

Not an invoice. Cross-border electricity is not sold country to country: the markets are coupled and the physical flow is the outcome of a shared auction. These figures value the measured flow at this zone's own day-ahead price, so both directions can be compared on the same scale.

Flows are measured, quarter-hour by quarter-hour; hourly borders are spread across the four quarters they cover, so every megawatt-hour meets the price that was actually in force. Energy entering the country is not the same as energy consumed here — some of it passes through.

A country between two others carries energy that is neither produced nor consumed there. Energy entering is not energy used.