Energy consumption increases 7.2% and sets new summer one-day record

The consumption of electricity in Portugal increased 7.2% year-on-year in July, boosted by above-average temperatures. On Wednesday, 13 July, the highest one-day consumption ever during the summer in Portugal was recorded - 163.5 GWh - beating the previous record, from 2010. Correcting for the effects of temperature and number of working days, there was a 4.9% year-on-year increase.

In the first seven months of the year, in comparison with the same period of last year, consumption increased 3.5%, or 3.3% when correcting for temperature and number of working days.

The dry hydroelectric regime presented a capability index of 0.30 (historical average of 1), although this number has little significance since this is a time of the year when water flows are almost non-existent. The wind regime was also below average levels, standing at 0.88 (historical average of 1), whereas photovoltaics levels were more favourable at 1.08 (historical average of 1). Renewable generation supplied 36% of consumption, while non-renewable generation supplied 35%. The remaining 29% consisted of imported energy.

In the period from January to July, the capability index stood at 0.34 for hydropower (historical average of 1), 0.94 for wind, and 1.10 for solar. Renewable generation supplied 46% of consumption, split between wind providing 24%, hydroelectric with 10%, biomass with 7%, and photovoltaics with 5%. Generation from natural gas supplied 32% of consumption, the remaining 22% coming from imported energy.

The natural gas market recorded a positive year-on-year monthly variation again, this time of 5.4%, due to the performance of the electricity generation segment, which grew 38%.  In the conventional segment, the downward trend continues, with a negative year-on-year monthly variation of 14.8%. Supply to the Portuguese national system continues to come almost entirely from the Sines LNG terminal.

In the period from January to July, the consumption of natural gas is practically in line with that observed in the same period of the previous year, recording a marginal decrease of 0.3%, resulting from a drop of 21% in the conventional segment and from an increase of 47% in the electricity generation segment.