Electricity consumption in Portugal increased by 3.4% in August compared to the same month last year, driven by high temperatures in the country, according to REN.
For the period between January and August, electricity consumption rose by 2.5% compared to the same timeframe in the previous year.
The company stated that August’s weather conditions led to lower solar and wind energy production.
“In August, the recorded weather conditions led to lower than average levels for both photovoltaic and wind production, with respective indices at 0.90 and 0.94, below the historical average of 1,” the statement read.
From January to August, gas consumption recorded a year-on-year growth of about 12%, with a 135% increase in the electricity production segment and a 9% decrease in the conventional segment.
Regarding hydraulic energy, renewable production supplied 54% of the consumption, non-renewable energy supplied 17%, and the remaining 29% were imported.
“In hydraulic production, although inflows were above the average regime, these are insignificant values as it is the summer period,” REN stated in the communiqué.
According to the company, from January to August, the hydroelectric productivity index was 1.40, the wind productivity index was 0.99, and the solar productivity index was 0.89.
In the same period, renewable production supplied 71% of consumption, distributed as 30% hydroelectric, 24% wind, 12% photovoltaic, and 5% biomass.
Natural gas production supplied 14% of consumption, while the remaining 15% was covered by net imports.
