Spain's gas demand falls for second year, down 11% as renewables hit record
MADRID, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Spain's consumption of natural gas dropped for the second year in a row in 2023, falling almost 11% as the country used more renewable sources to produce electricity.
With more than half of the electricity generated in the country coming from renewables, this use of gas plunged by nearly 31% from 2022, provisional data released by gas grid operator Enagas showed on Friday.
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A warm start to autumn also delayed the onset of the heating season, subduing demand.
Overall, Spain consumed 325.4 terawatt-hours of natural gas in 2023, 10.7% less than in 2022, despite demand from the country's industry increasing by 3.9%.
Gas demand also fell around 3.7% in 2022.
Renewable sources such as wind and solar are on track to produce a record 50.8% of Spain's electricity this year.
The government wants renewables to generate 81% of the country's electricity by 2030, according to a draft plan presented in June.
Underground gas storage in Spain is more than 90% full, Enagas said. (Reporting by Pietro Lombardi; editing by Jason Neely, Kirsten Donovan)