Electricity Consumption in May was Higher than Last Year

Electricity consumption in May was 2% higher than in the same month last year. Production of electricity in Estonia in May was 44% more than our domestic consumption and our electricity producers were mostly selling in Finland and Lithuania. Total production in May was 847 GWh, which is the same as last year.

Although Latvian electricity production fell from the previous month as the share of hydroelectricity fell by around 30%, the Latvian electricity system continued to be a net exporter over the month, with a balance of +103 GWh. Latvian electricity production was 9% higher than a year earlier.

At the same time, production in Lithuania was down 36% from May 2010, which led to the largest shortfall compared to consumption of recent times. Some 66% of the electricity needed to cover consumption was bought from Russia. Lithuania has a total generating capacity of 3.7 GW, which is sufficient to cover domestic consumption fully, but the electricity generated in the Lithuanian gas-fired power plants is considerably more expensive than imported electricity.

Electricity traders mostly exported electricity from Estonia to Finland in May, with Finland accounting for 55% of exports, Lithuania for 30%, and Latvia 15%. During the month, 53% of imported electricity came from Latvia, 46% from Lithuania and 1% from Finland.

Electricity exports from trading were 10% higher than in the same month a year ago, totalling 362 GWh, while imports rose 57% to 108 GWh.

The full report is available here (only in Estonian).