The electricity consumption of large and medium-sized companies dropped 1.1% compared with the same month last year, according to data from the Red Eléctrica Index (IRE). Broken down by sector, industrial consumption fell by 2.3% whereas consumption in the services sector rose by 1%. The effects of seasonal and working patterns were factored in when calculating this data.

According to the IRE, in the last twelve months, the electricity consumption of these companies, after having factored in the effects of seasonal and working patterns, increased 1.6% over the same period the previous year. By sector, industrial consumption has grown 1.3% and the services sector consumption has remained unchanged in the period.

Compared to March 2017, of the five activities with the highest electricity demand, the metallurgy industry has decreased 0.7%, the chemical industry has fallen 14.2%, the manufacturing industry for other non-metallic mineral products dropped 0.5%, the food industry rose 0.9% and the paper industry fell 7.6%.

The activities that contributed most to the consumption of large companies in March were: the collection, purification and distribution of water with an increase of 7.9%, the hospitality sector (12.3%), warehousing and support activities for transportation (4.9%), land transport and transport via pipelines (3.4%) and construction of buildings (7.6%).

The monthly electricity consumption data of each of the economic activities can be found in more detail in the IRE section of the Red Eléctrica website.

The IRE is an indicator which aims to provide information on the evolution of the electricity consumption of all large and medium-sized companies, defined as those with a contracted capacity above 450 kW. The measurements are collected at more than 23,400 points of approximately 13,900 companies. The consumption taken into account by the IRE represents about 47% of the total electricity demand, the remaining demand corresponds to residential consumers and other types of consumption.

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