The RES sector set a new production record in 2021, reaching 17,193 GWh, up from 14,800 in 2020, a 16.2 increase, while, in another important development last year, electricity demand rebounded to pre-pandemic levels of 2019, totaling 52,322 GWh, up 4.7 percent compared to 2020, data provided in a latest monthly report from power grid operator IPTO has shown.

Another eco-friendly energy source, hydropower, also ended 2021 with a record production level of 5,293 GWh, 82.5 percent higher than the 2020 total of 2,900 GWh, the IPTO report showed.

The RES and hydropower sectors, combined, provided 46.1 percent of the country’s overall electricity production in 2022, which reached 48,721 GWh.

Lignite-fired generation fell by 7 percent, to 5,341 GWh, in 2021, reflecting this high-polluting and high-cost energy source’s continual retreat.

Power utility PPC has been regaining ground during the energy crisis of the past few months, increasing its retail electricity market share to 63.9 percent in December from 63.1 percent a month earlier, the IPTO data showed.

PPC’s retail electricity market share has increased by nearly two percentage points  since September, when the energy crisis hit.