Electricity Production and Consumption Down in February

Electricity consumption was two percent down this February compared to the same period last year, at 723 gigawatt-hours, while electricity production fell by 19% over the same period to 864 gigawatt-hours.

The reduction in output came about because of decreased electricity exports. The Estonian electrical system exported 141 gigawatt-hours in February, which is 57% less than during the same period last year.

At the same time, electricity production from renewable sources increased by as much as 48%. This included the doubling of wind power output to 49 gigawatt-hours, and the amount of electricity produced from biomass and biogas rising by 22%. The increase in wind energy output came primarily from favorable wind conditions – weather service measurements at the Pakri and Virtsu stations showed a nearly 19% increase in wind speeds compared to February of last year.

In Latvia, electricity output for February fell by seven percent year-on-year to 489 gigawatt-hours. The reduced production was caused by lower flow rates on the river Daugava, leading to a drop in the collective output of the hydro power plants by 12% year-on-year. Riga’s combined heat and power plants also produced more than a third less electricity. The shortfall in Latvia’s electricity balance for last month was 138 gigawatt-hours. Domestic production covered 78% of consumption. The remaining electricity was imported entirely from Estonia’s electrical system.

Lithuania’s electricity production shrank by 13% compared to last year, to a total of 237 gigawatt-hours. The electricity produced was only enough to cover 28% of domestic consumption, and the electricity balance required physical imports of 614 gigawatt-hours. 66% of the deficit in the electricity balance was covered by imports via Latvia. Imports from third countries amounted to a total of 34%.

In the three Baltic states as a whole, consumption fell by one percent, while production fell by 14%. The combined electricity balance of the Baltic states increased by 69% year-on-year, to 611 gigawatt-hours. February’s deficit was 28% of the total consumption in the Baltics.

An average of 91% of the electricity consumed in Estonia was purchased on the Elspot market, while around 90% of the electricity produced in Estonia was sold on Elspot. The corresponding figures for Latvia were 26% and 5%, while for Lithuania they were 85% and 41%.

Electricity production in the Nordics fell again in February. The drop in output was primarily due to a lack of hydro energy availability in the first half of the month. In addition, the reduced consumption due to warm weather conditions also had an impact on the shrinking output. The Nordic electricity balance had a surplus of 1.3 terawatt-hours in February, almost triple to that at the same time last year.

The full report on the electricity system in February is available here.