Renewables supply 61% of electricity consumption in the first semester

Electricity consumption recorded a year-on-year growth of 0.5% in the month of June, driven by above-average temperatures. Correcting for the effects of temperature and number of working days, there was a 1.3% decrease. In the first semester, consumption remained in line with the same period of the previous year, showing a decrease of 0.3% when considering the effects of temperature and working day.

In June, the hydroelectric regime was more favourable, recording 1.11 (historical average of 1), while wind and solar energy conditions were below average, with indices standing at 0.81 and 0.97, respectively. Renewable production supplied 46% of the consumption, while non-renewable production and imported energy accounted for 27% each.

In the total of the semester, the hydropower capability index stood at 0.79 (historical average of 1), the wind capability index was 0.92, and the solar capability index was 1.07. During this period, renewable generation supplied 61% of consumption, split between wind, providing 25%, hydropower 23%, photovoltaics 7%, and biomass 6%. Generation from natural gas supplied 19% of consumption, while the import balance supplied the remaining 20%.

In the natural gas market, a year-on-year negative variation of 19% was recorded in June. The conventional segment decreased 6.5%, while in the electricity production segment the decrease was 32%. The decline in the electricity production segment was due to the increased availability of renewable energy, as there was no significant change in the import balance. In June, the national supply was solely sourced from the Sines LNG terminal. Additionally, the exchange balance through the interconnection with Spain indicated exports that accounted for approximately 22% of national consumption.

In the first semester, the accumulated annual consumption of natural gas experienced a contraction of 21%, driven by drops of 4.9% in the conventional segment and 42% in the electricity market. This represents the lowest consumption level for the first semester of the year since 2016.