Enagas: Spanish gas demand for power generation hits record high

Spanish LNG terminal operator, Enagás said on Tuesday that monthly natural gas demand for power generation in Spain will reach record levels in November.

The demand for natural gas for power generation will close November with a growth of about 45% year-on-year, reaching approximately 7,400 GWh, the highest figure recorded in 2016.

Furthermore, on 16 November, daily demand for gas for power generation reached 476 GWh, the highest figure for daily consumption since January 2012, Enagás said in a statement.

According to the Spanish utility, these figures have been boosted by the increase of exports of electricity, reduced wind and hydraulic power for the generation of electricity and the shutdown of two nuclear power stations in Spain.

In addition, conventional demand for natural gas, targeted at household, commercial and industrial consumption, is expected to increase in November by 12% year-on-year, up to 25,600 GWh.

This increase is driven by both demand from the industrial sector (+11%), as well as the domestic-commercial and SMEs (+22%) sectors, which increases its demand as a consequence of very low temperatures at the start of the month, Enagás said.

So far this year, conventional demand has recorded cumulative growth of 2.5%, as a consequence of an increase in consumption by the industrial sector (3.1%) as well as the household-commercial sector (0.3%).

Spanish demand for natural gas is expected to rise 2% this year as compared to 2015, the utility added.