Spanish Generators Burn More Gas

Gas demand from Spain's power generators will close November about 45% higher compared to the same month in 2015, said Spanish gas grid operator Enagas November 29. Figures from its power grid counterpart bear out its analysis.

Enagas expects this month’s use by generators to reach 7.4 terawatt-hours of gas (0.69bn m³) – the highest monthly use by generators so far in 2016. It also noted that daily demand for gas from power generators on November 16  reached 0.476 TWh of gas, its highest in one day since January 13 2012.

Increased exports of electricity from Spain, reduced wind and hydro-power in the country, and two Spanish nuclear plant shutdowns had reinforced gas’s role in power generation, it added. A spate of nuclear outages in neighbouring France forced it to increase power imports from Germany but also Spain,  the latest issue of NGW Magazine issue 8 also explains. 

Other sectors such as industry and households consumed more gas in Spain too, prompting Enagas to estimate that overall Spanish gas demand in calendar 2016 will end up some 2% higher than in 2015.

Bearing out Enagas’s analysis, Spanish power grid operator REE November 30 reported that gas-fired power plants (CCGTs) produced 16.9% of Spain’s power this November, compared to only 9.9% in the first 11 months of 2016. That made gas the third-largest fuel source for Spanish power plants in November, after coal which also increased to 21.8% of the mix (from 13.4% in Jan-Nov 2016) and nuclear which was down at 18.5% of the November mix (from 23.1% in Jan-Nov 2016).

REE also said that mainland Spain electricity demand in November 2016 at 20.58 TWh was 3.6% higher than in the same month last year. 

Mark Smedley