Portugal Sets New Daily Demand Record
Portugal broke a new daily gas consumption record December 5, according to Portuguese grid operator Redes Energeticas Nacionais (REN).
National consumption that day reached 0.263 terawatt-hours of gas (24.46mn m3), beating the previous record set in January 2017.
In a statement issued December 13, REN said that 2017 had been a record breaking year in natural gas consumption in the country with 66.49 TWh (6.18bn m3) consumed up to December 11, so 15% more than in the previous record year of 2010, and 27.5% more than in the same 2016 period; conventional gas use (homes, businesses and industry) increased by 4.4%, whereas gas used for power generation -- which accounts for 40% of total gas consumption -- grew massively by 90.1%. November gas consumption in Portugal was also 11% higher than its previous all-time high for that month.
REN explained that increased gas-firing at Portugal's power plants was because they are “exporting considerably this year.” Another key factor is the country's protracted drought, which caused a steep decrease in hydro-electric generation and started massive forest fires across central and northern Portugal.
December 5 was also a record-breaking day for gas demand in Spain where -- just as in Portugal -- cold weather and the absence of hydro-electric generation combined to push up gas demand that day.