Electricity demand falls in Spain by 0.4% in May, according to Red Eléctrica

49.8% of national generation was renewable in the fifth month of the year

MADRID, 2 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The demand for electrical energy in Spain stood at 20,274 gigawatt hours (GWh) in May, which represents a decrease of 0.4% in relation to the same month last year, according to data from Red Eléctica de España (REE) released this Thursday.

If calendar effects and temperatures are taken into account, national demand fell by 2.9%, details the operator of the Spanish electricity system, which also points out that 49.8% of generation came from renewable sources and the 69.2% was free of CO2 emissions.

In the accumulated of the first five months of 2022, the demand for electrical energy stood at 104,070 GWh, 2% less than in the same period of the previous year, although if the data is corrected for the influence of the calendar and temperatures the decrease was 2.5%.

According to estimated data from REE, wind generation in May was 4,641 GWh, with which its weight in the electricity production mix stood at 21%. In addition, it remains for the third consecutive month as the main source of production.

Behind wind power is electricity from nuclear power plants, which had a weight of 18.5% in the mix, while combined cycles -which use gas to produce electricity- generated 17% of the total.

Solar photovoltaics accounted for 14.9% of electricity generation in May, while hydro and cogeneration produced 8.7% each.

In the accumulated of the first five months of the year, wind power accounted for 24.1% of the mix, nuclear 20.6%, combined cycles 19.1%, solar photovoltaic 9.4%, cogeneration 9% and hydraulics 7.8%.

In the Spanish peninsular electricity system, the demand stood at 19,059 GWh in May, 1.2% less than in the same month of 2021, although if the data is corrected with the effects of calendar and temperatures, the decrease was 3 .9%.

In the accumulated until the end of May, the demand in the peninsular system was 98,242 GWh, 2.7% less than in the same period of the previous year and 3.2% less with the corrected data.

As for the archipelagos, in the Balearic Islands the demand for electricity was 470,917 megawatt hours (MWh), 23.8% more than in May 2021 (20.8% more with the corrected data). In the accumulated of the first five months the demand was 2,210,412 MWh (10.4% more than in the same period of the previous year).

In the Canary Islands, the electricity demand in May is estimated at 712,065 MWh (11.6% more than in the same month of 2021) and at 3,457,946 in the accumulated (10.9% more).