During the first three months of the year, "renewable production supplied 72% of consumption, broken down by hydroelectric with 34%, wind with 27%, biomass with 6% and photovoltaic with 5%", with the hydroelectric production index standing at by 0.95 (historical average equal to 1), wind productivity by 0.93 and solar productivity by 1.14”, REN said in a statement.
Natural gas production supplied 19% of consumption, while the remaining 9% corresponded to the import balance.
However, in March, weather conditions turned negative for renewable energies, with the exception of photovoltaics, with renewable production accounting for 56% of consumption (non-renewable 15%, imported 29%).
In that month, the hydroelectric production index stood at 0.65, the wind at 0.83 and the solar at 1.14 and the peak of photovoltaic production exceeded 1,500 megawatts (MW) for the first time, around 400 MW above that registered in the same period of the previous year.
Electricity consumption fell by 1% in March, year-on-year, or 1.1% with correction for the effects of temperature and the number of working days, but in the first quarter, there was an increase of 2.1%, or 1.3% correcting for temperature and working days, year-on-year.
With regard to natural gas, in the first quarter the accumulated annual consumption of gas recorded a year-on-year negative variation of 20%, broken down by a 4.1% decline in the conventional segment and a 39% drop in the energy production segment.
In the case of the conventional segment, REN highlighted that this is the lowest consumption since 2009.
The supply of the national system was basically carried out from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Sines, 89% of the total, with the remaining 11% received through the interconnection with Spain.