Natural gas consumption recorded a year-on-year drop of 20% at the end of the third quarter, reaching the lowest value since 2014, according to data from REN – Redes Energéticas Nacionais, released today.
“At the end of the third quarter, natural gas consumption fell by 20% year-on-year, with a 38% drop in the electricity generation segment and a 4.1% decrease in the conventional segment,” REN said in a statement, stressing that “this overall gas consumption is the lowest since 2014.”
In September, natural gas consumption fell by 12% compared to the same month last year, with a 27% drop in the electricity market segment and a 2.2% rise in the conventional segment.
According to data also released today by Adene – Energy Agency, “there was a very significant change in the supply of natural gas compared to August”, with the United States of America returning to the lead in natural gas imports with a market share of 66.5%, followed by Nigeria with 30.5%, while imports from interconnections with Spain accounted for 3% of supply.
With regard to electricity, consumption fell slightly year-on-year by 0.3% in September, or 0.1% when correcting for the effects of temperature and the number of working days.
From January to September, electricity consumption fell by 0.5%, the same figure when correcting for temperature and working days.
In September, renewable energy accounted for 42% of consumption in mainland Portugal, non-renewable production for 26%, while the remaining 32% was imported energy.
That month, conditions were unfavorable for both wind and photovoltaic production, with the respective productivity indices registering 0.94 (historical average of 1) and 0.92.
In hydroelectric power, the figures were normal, “but have little significance at this time of year”, while in photovoltaics, with high growth, the peak delivered to the grid exceeded 1,800 Megawatts (MW) for the first time.
In the period from January to September, renewable production supplied 55% of consumption, broken down into wind power with 24%, hydroelectric power with 17%, photovoltaics with 8% and biomass with 6%, while natural gas production supplied 22% of consumption in the first nine months of the year. The remaining 23% was imported energy.
