The mild winter behind us has led to significant reductions in electricity and gas consumption. In the winter, electricity sales to consumers fell by 7.2 percent, E-Control announced on Wednesday. In March 2023, electricity consumption was also 7.5 percent lower than in March 2022. In March 2023, households in Austria consumed 24.9 percent less natural gas than in the same month last year.
Electricity generation was 0.6 percent lower in March than in the same month last year. While hydroelectric power stations generated 9.3 percent more electricity and wind turbines a whopping 53.2 percent, electricity production from thermal power stations fell by 31.6 percent. The share of hydroelectric power plants in total electricity production was 50.2 percent in March, thermal power plants accounted for 25.2 percent of the share and wind turbines contributed 14.6 percent of total production.
Imports of electricity from abroad also fell. In March 2023, the balance of imports and exports was 49.5 percent lower than in the same month of the previous year. Imports of natural gas from abroad fell by 65 percent in March compared to March 2022. Exports also fell sharply. However, from October 2022 to March 2023 there was a gas import balance of 37.4 TWh, which represents an increase of 58.6 percent compared to winter 2021/22.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
