Electricity consumption grows 3.4% in August

Electricity consumption, driven by above-normal temperatures, grew by 3.4% in August compared to the same month last year, or 2.1% when adjusted for temperature and number of working days. From January to August, consumption grew by 2.5%, or 2.0% when adjusted for temperature and working days.

In August, weather conditions led to below-average levels for both photovoltaic and wind power production, with the respective indices standing at 0.90 and 0.94, below the historical average of 1. In hydroelectric production, although inflows were above average, the figures are not very significant as this is the summer period. Overall, renewable production supplied 54% of consumption, non-renewable production 17%, while the remaining 29% corresponded to imported energy.

From January to August, the hydroelectric productivity index was 1.40, the wind productivity index was 0.99, and the solar productivity index was 0.89. In the same period, renewable production supplied 71% of consumption, divided between hydroelectric (30%), wind (24%), photovoltaic (12%), and biomass (5%). Natural gas production supplied 14% of consumption, while the remaining 15% corresponded to the import balance.

In the natural gas market, the positive trend continues with greater use of thermoelectric power plants this year. In August, total consumption registered a year-on-year variation of 17%, despite a 13% drop in the conventional segment.
Domestic supply remained almost entirely from the Sines LNG terminal, while the interconnection with Spain again recorded an export balance, equivalent to around 11% of domestic consumption.

From January to August, gas consumption grew by around 12% year-on-year, with a 135% increase in the electricity production segment and a 9% decline in the conventional segment.