Cold weather boosts electricity consumption in November

Electricity consumption increased by 4% in November, driven by the relatively low temperatures experienced, or 0.8% when considering the effects of temperature and number of working days. At the end of November, in comparison with the same period of the previous year, annual accumulated consumption was up 1.7%, or 2.1% when correcting for temperature and working days. There was a drop of 1.8%, when compared to 2019.
 
Also in November, conditions were especially negative for hydro generation, with its corresponding capability index standing at 0.37 (historical average of 1), while wind generation was close to average conditions, standing at 0.97 (historical average of 1). Renewable production supplied 54% of consumption, non-renewable production supplied 35%, and the remaining 11% came from imported energy.
 
In the period from January to November, the hydropower capability index stood at 1.01 (historical average of 1) and the wind-power capability index at 0.97 (historical average of 1). In this period, renewable production supplied 59% of consumption, split between hydro and wind power with around 24% each, biomass with 7%, and photovoltaics, which recorded an annual increase of 36%, was close to 4%. Non-renewable production supplied 32% of consumption, split between natural gas with 30% and coal with 2%, and the import balance ensured the remaining 10%. The Pego plant, the last Portuguese coal-fired power station, shut down this month, ending the production of electricity in Portugal using this fuel.
 
In the natural gas market, despite the positive performance of the electricity market, the negative trend recorded in recent months continued. In November, there was a year-on-year reduction of 5.7%, with a 16% drop in the conventional segment, partially offset by an 11% growth in the electricity production segment.
 
In the period from January to November, the consumption of natural gas recorded a negative year-on-year variation of 4.8%, with the conventional segment recording a marginally positive variation of 0.1% and the electricity production segment dropping around 13%. When compared to the same period in 2019, there was a drop of around 6%.