Europe sees decrease in gas consumption
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.13
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
EU gas consumption in the third quarter of 2020 decreased slightly, by 0.6 percent in year-on-year comparison, after falling by more than 10 percent in Q2 2020 and by 4 percent in the first quarter of the year, Trend reports citing the European Commission.
In absolute numbers, the quarterly gas consumption in Q3 2020 amounted to an estimated 71.5 bcm, decreasing slightly from 71.9 bcm in Q3 2019, and staying on similar level as in Q2 2020 (71.3 bcm), reads the latest report released by the European Commission.
“After the end of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, confinement measures were lifted in most of the EU countries, and this could also be tracked in gas demand for industry. In electricity generation, demand for gas was slightly up, by 0.2 percent year-on-year (increasing by 0.2 TWh). Weather across Europe in July and August was generally warmer than usual, impacting residential cooling needs by increasing electricity generation from gas-fired sources as well. September 2020 was milder than usual, reducing the eventual heating needs in northern European countries in this early autumn month. In the third quarter of 2020 gas consumption in the EU was similar to that in Q3 2019 an was in the upper range of the last five years. In the first three quarters of 2020 gas consumption in the EU amounted to 274 bcm, down by 14 bcm (5 percent) compared to the same period of 2019,” said the Commission.
In the third quarter of 2020, the biggest year-on-year increase in gas consumption could be observed in Slovakia (75% percent though representing only an increase of 0.4 bcm) and Lithuania and Romania (respectively representing increases of 32 percent and 14 percent, and 0.1 bcm and 0.2 bcm, compared to Q3 2019). Gas consumption, measured in percentages, fell by the most in Latvia (by 40 percent, 0.1 bcm) and in Austria (by 17 percent, 0.3 bcm).
The biggest decreases could be observed in Italy (4.6 bcm, or -8 percent), Germany (3.5 bcm, -5.5 percent), France (3.3 bcm, -11 percent) and Spain (3 bcm, -12 percent), compared with the same period of 2019. In the United Kingdom consumption of gas decreased by 2.3 bcm (-4 percent) during the same period.
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