Spain large consumer power demand drop eases to 3% on year in Sept

Barcelona — Power demand from Spain's large consumers continued to recover in September, with a 3% year-on-year drop in demand -- the narrowest decrease since the start of the pandemic, data published Oct. 23 by grid operator Red Electrica de Espana showed.

The September figure was a recovery from 7% year-on-year falls in July and August and a 14% drop in May, according to the data.

The recovery was led by the industrial segment, which fell 1% year on year, with two of the 10 largest segments (paper, rubber and plastics) joining non-metallic minerals in positive territory.

The recovery in demand was in line with REE's monthly demand total, which fell 3% year on year to 20.6 TWh.

REE's large consumer index draws on data from 21,500 different consumers who have a contracted capacity above 450 kW and represent around 45% of total national demand.

The services sector continued to flounder, however, with social restrictions still affecting the normal functioning of offices and similar business as well as battering the tourism industry.

REE said, for example, that power demand in the popular holiday destination of the Balearic Islands had fallen 29% year on year in September to 406 GWh as a result.

Power demand from the service sector as a whole was down 8% year on year in September, flat compared to August in gross terms but a decline of 1.3 percentage points taking into account temperature and working-day adjustments, the data showed.

The overall fall in the IRE index was still largely driven by the metal industry, which is the heaviest weighted component in the index.

Metals sector demand for power has fallen 11% year on year and has posted a 16% drop for the year to date, with the main producing units in the aluminum industry -- the largest single power consumer -- at a near standstill for much of the last two quarters.

Spain large consumer index for Sept. 2020

(largest 10 sectors only)

NC = no change

Source: Red Electrica de Espana