Spanish natural gas demand spikes in July

Spanish LNG terminal operator, Enagás reported that the natural gas demand in Spain has grown significantly on the back of soaring demand for natural gas for power generation in July. 

The demand in Spain has grown by 45 percent compared to the same month last year driven by a sharp increase in demand for power generation, Enagás said.

Demand for natural gas for power generation reached 578 GWh, the highest summer figure since 2010. This record was the result of the high temperatures recorded owing to the heat wave affecting Spain, resulting in greater use of air conditioning systems.

The increase in demand for natural gas for power generation is the result of greater use of natural gas over coal to fill the energy gap, in a context of more competitive prices for natural gas, and of low hydroelectricity generation.

Demand for natural gas for the year to date has grown by 12.6 percent compared to the same period of 2018, mainly the consequence of gas consumption for power generation, which has grown by close to 84 percent.

The increase in the use of gas in Spain is also influenced by the strong performance in industrial demand, which has been recording sustained growth of 3–4 percent.

The State Meteorological Agency forecasts a spike in temperatures for the rest of the week, meaning that these new records could well be broken.