While you design your contingency plan to comply with Brussels, the data reveals that Spain shoots up its gas consumption to produce electricity by the drought and sales to France, while reduced in homes and industry. In the first seven months of 2022, the demand for gas to generate electricity has risen 83.2% to 72.9 terawatt-hours (TWh), compared to the figures for the same period of the previous year, according to data from Enagas. While the so-called conventional demand (composed of industry and households and SMEs) has been reduced by almost 13% to a total of 150,837 TWh.
The usual thing is that the electricity production with water represents around 12% of the generation mix in Spain, while so far this year it has not reached an average of 7%, at the level of 2017, due to the drought that is plaguing the entire country. Added to this is that since November Spain is net exporter of electricity to Francewhen the usual thing was that the flow that produced in the opposite direction, as reflected in the Red Eléctrica data from recent years.
The reasons for the rise in sales to France there are two: half of the French nuclear power plants are stopped for maintenance and the cap on the price of gas in the Iberian Peninsula drives flow from south to north. Therefore, that puts pressure on the demand for electricity and boosts generation with gas, in the absence of another technology such as coal. (In the last two months, to this equation we must add an increase in demand for high temperatures that drive the use of air conditioning).
In this context, Spain has agreed with Brussels to reduce its electricity consumption by 7% between 1 August this year (this Monday) and March 31, 2023 based on the average consumption of the last five years. According to estimates made by this means from the monthly figures published by Enagásthe average gas consumption in those eight months since 2017 was 261.32 TWhof which the 20% corresponds to SMEs and domestic demand, 54% to industry and 24% to electricity generation. With these numbers, Spain would have to reduce its consumption by 18.3 TWh in the next eight months.
The question now is how to do it. The Executive announced on Monday a campaign to save energy in public buildings that includes limiting the temperature inside, turning off the light at night, closing the doors when they are air-conditioned premises and reviewing the boilers and has constantly asked the citizens consume in moderation. The Executive did not quantify how much this measure could reduce consumption, but precisely SMEs and households have already reduced their use of gas (4% in the last six months – June was the last month with the disaggregated figures – and 13 .8% in June).
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In the same line, the industry its consumption has decreased by 20.2% in June and 11.8% in the accumulated since January. “In July it will be 30% and August is going the same way. Not for efficiency but because of the high prices of energy. The industry can no longer stop& rdquor ;, assures Veronica Rivierethe president of GasIndustrial, the employers’ association of large industrial gas consumers such as the ceramic or chemical sector. “And in the conversations with the Ministry (for the Ecological Transition) a mandatory stop is not contemplated either, but efficiency measures,” he adds. For example, the promotion of renewable gases such as biogas or biomethane, green hydrogen or voluntary interruptibility, as he explains.
Therefore, the leg that remains is the electricity generation. At this point, Rivière points out that the only option would be to get the electricity exports to France were exempt to comply with these calculations to avoid that if Spain increases its gas consumption to produce more electricity to send to France, this will penalize it. “That is in the hands of the Ministry and Europe because if not we would have to cut and stop sending gas” explains Rivière. From the department headed by the Third Vice President and Minister for the Ecological Transition, Theresa Riveraexplain that it has been proposed that the account not enter the part of gas consumption that is consumption for third countriesbut they also add that there is nothing concrete in the absence of design contingency plans which must be delivered to the European Commission before the end of September.