Portugal Sees Record Gas Use in 2017 (Correction)
Correction: REN says figures in its statement of 79% and 4.1% are not shares of Portugal's 2017 overall gas consumption, but sectoral rates of increase relative to 2016. Corrected sections are in italics below.
Portugal’s natural gas consumption broke a seven-year record in Portugal in 2017, backed by unprecedented use in the electricity market.
The country’s gas consumption in 2017 reached 69.7 terawatt-hours of gas (6.5bn m3), a seven-year high, representing 24.8% year-on-year growth and a 21% increase from the previous maximum in 2010, said Portuguese grid operator Redes Energeticas Nacionais (REN) in a statement January 3. The year on year rates of increase were 79% for gas used in power generation, and 4.1% for gas used for other conventional uses.
Natural gas was also the second most important source in power generation with a 34% share, behind renewables (40%), but ahead of coal (26%).
Power generation accounted for 39.5% of total 2017 Portuguese gas consumption, a new record for gas-firing there; conventional use (homes, businesses, industry) accounted for 60.5% of the total, REN told NGW January 4.
Whilst gas use across the year increased in Portugal, REN registered the first 2017 year-on-year decline in gas consumption during the month of December because of a 14.5% decline in gas used in power generation, although conventional gas use that month increased by 1.9% year-on-year. Portugal set an all-time high overall daily gas consumption record December 5 because of the bitterly cold weather, as did neighbouring Spain the same day.
In 2017, REN said that total electricity consumption reached 49.6 TWh, increasing by 0.7% year-on-year, the third consecutive year of growth , and exceeded the previous record set in 2010 by about 5%. In December 2017, seasonally lower temperatures saw a 4.1% year on year growth in electricity use.