Both electricity and gas consumption fell in May. At the same time, electricity production in Austria was lower than in May of the previous year. Less electricity from hydropower and wind energy, due to low water levels and poorer wind conditions, was offset by more electricity generation in thermal power plants. At the same time, considerably more gas was stored.
According to E-Control, 1 terawatt hour (TWh) or 16.7 percent less gas was consumed by end customers this year than in May of the previous year. The reason for this was probably the colder weather in May of the previous year.
At the same time, domestic gas production (including biogenic gas feed-in) increased by 29.3 percent to 0.6 TWh. 1.56 TWh was extracted from the gas storage, 66.3 percent less than a year earlier. 10 TWh more was stored than in May 2021. Physical imports from neighboring countries fell by 14 percent, physical exports fell by 40 percent. This resulted in an import balance of 17.6 TWh for May 2022.
Domestic electricity consumption decreased by 2.2 percent. It is also only possible to say whether consumers are already saving on consumption due to the high electricity and gas prices, if lower consumption is observed over several months.
Domestic electricity production decreased by 6.1 percent to 6.2 TWh
The majority of the electricity came from hydropower plants, at 63 percent, although production there also fell by 5.6 percent to 3.9 TWh. The reason for this was the low water level in the local rivers, which resulted in the river power plants producing 11 percent less electricity with a production coefficient of 0.91. In contrast, electricity generation from storage plants increased by about 8 percent. Meanwhile, wind turbines produced about half as much electricity as in May 2021.
The decreases in electricity from hydropower and wind energy were partly offset by thermal power plants. According to these figures, gas-fired power stations in particular produced 0.6 TWh, 61 percent more than in May of the previous year. Electricity imports from neighboring countries increased by 40 percent to 1.8 TWh, while physical electricity exports increased by 11 percent to 2 TWh. Net imports were about 60 percent below the previous year’s figure.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
