Renewable production supplies 52% of domestic consumption in 2018

Renewable production supplied 52% of domestic consumption, plus net exports, in 2018, broken down into wind power and hydropower, both with 23%, biomass with 5% and photovoltaic with 1.5%.  Non-renewable production supplied the remaining 48% of consumption, broken down into natural gas with 27% and coal with 21%. The balance of trade favoured exports for the third year in a row and amounted to around 5% of domestic consumption. Still in 2018, the consumption of electricity totalled 50.9 TWh, a year-on-year increase of 2.5%, or 1.7% when accounting for the effects of temperature and number of working days. This is the second highest annual consumption ever, 2.5% below the all-time high recorded in 2010. 

In December, power consumption recorded a year-on-year reduction of 2.4%, stemming from the above-average temperatures recorded during the month, unlike those in the same month of the previous year. When correcting for the effects of temperature and number of working days, the variation was 1.2%.

In December, the hydropower capability index was 0.63 (historical average of 1), whereas in wind generation the corresponding capability index was 0.83 (historical average of 1). Renewable production supplied 56% of domestic consumption, with non-renewable production supplying the remaining 44%. The balance of trade continued to favour exports and was equal to 0.4% of domestic consumption.

In 2018, the annual hydropower capability index was 1.05 (historical average of 1), whereas the wind-power capability index was 1.00, in line with the historical average. 

In the natural gas market, the trend of reduced consumption continued in December, influenced by the greater availability of renewable energy in 2018, with a subsequent drop in the gas-fired electricity production segment. In December, domestic consumption recorded a year-on-year variation of -7.0%, despite the 6.9% growth in the conventional segment.

In 2018, natural gas consumption amounted to 64.9 TWh, with an annual variation of -6.8%. This is the second highest annual consumption ever, only surpassed by that of 2017. In the electricity market segment, which accounted for 32% of total consumption, there was a reduction of around 25%, partially offset by a 4.8% growth in the conventional segment.