Electricity consumption rises 3% by October and renewables supply 62%

O electricity consumption increased by 3% by October and renewable sources supplied 62% of the national electricity consumption, according to REN data released today.

Between January and October, “consumption increased by 3% (2.5% with temperature correction and working days)” said REN – National Energy Networks, in a statement released today.

In October, the consumption of electricity recorded a fall of 0.2%, “value that does not change with temperature correction and number of working days”, he adds.

In the accumulation of the first ten months of the year, 62% of the electricity consumed came from renewable sources, especially hydroelectric and wind power plants, which accounted for 22% of the supply.

Solar plants accounted for 13% of the supply, while biomass plants supplied 5%.

“ Natural gas production accounted for 14% of consumption, while the import balance, with the remaining 24%, recorded the highest share ever in the national system for this period”, notes REN.

According to company data, hydroelectric plants had a reproducibility index of 0.58 and wind reached 0.61 (historical average of 1).

“ In photovoltaics the regime was more favorable, with the reproducibility index to register 1.05 ", adds.

According to REN, as a whole, renewable production supplied 47% of consumption and non-renewable production 13%, and “the balance of trade with abroad has maintained the import trend that has occurred, representing the remaining 40% of consumption”.

On the other hand, consumption in the natural gas market fell by 20.5%, in homologous terms, “with the electric and conventional energy production segments showing reductions of 27% and 17% respectively”.

“ After ten months, the consumption of natural gas fell by 1.8%, while in the conventional segment there was a reduction of 2.8%”, the same note underlines.

In the month under review, the supply of the national system was made in full from the Sines LNG terminal, and through interconnection with Spain, the system exported the equivalent of two thirds of the national consumption.

According to the company, by the end of October the national system was secured almost entirely through the Sines terminal, originating mainly in Nigeria (54%), followed by the United States (39%) and Russia (7%).

“ The export balance through interconnection with Spain was, for this period, the highest ever recorded in the national system”, he said.