On the first day with shop windows off and air conditioners at a minimum temperature of 27 degrees, the electrical consumtion in Spain it was 752 gigawatt-hours (GWh), 5.3% more than the 794 GWh of consumption registered the previous Wednesday, according to demand data from Electric Network, the operator of the Spanish electricity system. From the company they insist that it is Too early to make any comparisons. Industry sources add that the figures may vary from day to day for multiple reasons and it would be too hasty to refer to the Government’s savings plan as the main one.
Thus, the comparison is made with the same day (Wednesday) because each day of the week has a different demanddepending on employment, especially industry, being the Wednesday and Thursday the days of greatest consumption. In the specific case of this Wednesday, it should be noted that in addition to the entry into force of two of the main measures of the savings plan, the decrease may also be influenced by last week it was much hotter that this one, in which it has rained in many parts of the country, like in the north, and that the labor force in the second week of August is usually lower than the firstespecially when Monday of next week is a holiday throughout the national territory.
On the other hand, if the comparison is made with the consumption of the second wednesday of august a year ago, electricity consumption has grown by 2.1%, compared to 736 GWh at that time. It should be remembered that a year ago the sightseeing it was still very small in Spain and many hotels and restaurants were closed or affected by the restrictions. Front of average of the five-year period 2015-2019 (average demand of 729.6 GWh), when the coronavirus pandemicconsumption has increased by 3.1%.
Gas consumption
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The goal of the Government’s savings plan to reduce the demand for electricity is to reduce gas consumption through its use in electricity generation. In line with the data from Red Eléctrica, those from the gas system operator (Enagás) also show a decrease. Specific, Total gas consumption in Spain fell 7% this Wednesday, compared to the previous Wednesday. Thus, if on August 3 the total demand was 1,085.70 GWh, on the 10th it was 1,010.35 GWh.
The Government calculates that its energy plan will save between 4% and 5%, more than half of what was agreed with Europe, although the reference in this case is the average consumption of the previous five years. If this exercise is done taking this Wednesday as a reference, Gas consumption was 11% higher than the average of an equivalent day for the five-year period 2017-2021 (911.23 GWh). It should be remembered that in recent months the gas demand to produce electricity has skyrocketed, doubling its levels. This Wednesday it was reduced by 8%, compared to the same day of the previous week.