Conventional demand for natural gas (domestic, commercial, industrial and co-generation consumption) set a new all-time record yesterday, 24 January, of 1,179 GWh mainly because of the low temperatures in Spain. This was 1.1% higher than the previous record of 1,166 GWh set on 16 December 2010, and 2.5% above last winter's record of 1,150 GWh.
Looking at individual self-governing regions, the all-time peak in conventional demand was also broken in the Basque Country, which saw conventional demand rise by 7% from the high set the previous winter.
Yesterday, total demand (conventional and for electricity generation) reached 1,576 GWh, affected by the considerable contribution to electricity generation of wind and hydroelectric power, and as a result of a smaller contribution by combined-cycle thermal power plants. Had these plants required the same supply of gas as that registered on 9 January 2009 for example (741 GWh), the record for total demand by the System would have been smashed by 3.1%.
