Portuguese power demand falls to 15-year low in 2020

Barcelona — Portuguese power demand fell to a 15-year low in 2020, according to data from Portuguese grid operator REN and energy department DGEG, with 48.8 TWh consumed in a year hit by pandemic measures.

Domestic thermal plants supplied 14.3 TWh, down 15% year on year, accounting for less than 30% of the total, down from 34% in 2019.

Renewables continued to boost their contribution to the Portuguese supply side, with hydro providing 26% of supply, and wind 25%, while thermal renewable contributed 16% and imports 13%, according to REN.

Meanwhile, REN said Jan. 6 that Portugal had achieved a new record of 111 straight hours with no domestic thermal generation over the Christmas period. The Portuguese system was supplied without recourse to domestic thermal plants from Dec. 24 through Dec. 28, with wind supplying 47% of energy needs in the period, hydro 19%, imports 17%, photovoltaic 2% and of cogeneration and biomass 15%, REN said.

The previous record was 88 hours in April 2018, it said.

Hydro levels ended the year at 55.5% full, with 1.78 TWh of stocks held, down 20 percentage points from the start of the year, but still 1 point above the five-year average.

Freezing temperatures have gripped the Iberian peninsula in December, which boosted power demand 1% year on year to 4.6 TWh in the month. It was only the second month to show a year-on-year increase since the start of the pandemic in March.

Portuguese gas demand was fairly resilient to the pandemic in 2020, falling just 2% year on year to 66.9 TWh as the volume of gas for power generation increased 4% year on year to 23.8 TWh, offsetting a 5% decline in conventional demand to 42.2 TWh.

However, in December, gas-to-power demand dropped 16% year on year to 1.3 TWh, leading overall gas demand down 4% to 5.1 TWh, as conventional demand edged up 0.3% year on year to 3.8 TWh.

Portugal Electricity Balance

Source: Redes Energeticas Nacionais