Red Eléctrica de España has today published the Spanish Electricity System Report corresponding to 2015, which includes the most relevant data regarding the activity of the system in a year in which, after four consecutive years of decline, the demand for electricity recovered its growth trend registering an increase of 1.9% over the figure for 2014.

Electricity demand per autonomous community

The demand for electricity has grown in most of the autonomous communities, with the largest increase registered in the autonomous communities in the South and in the Mediterranean coast of the Spanish Peninsula, where due to the high temperatures in the summer months, there were increases in excess of 3%.

Consumption by large companies

In 2015, the Red Eléctrica Index (IRE), which reflects the evolution of the electricity consumption of large companies, increased by 2% compared to 2014, after having factored in the effects of seasonal and working patterns and the evolution of the temperatures.

By sector, the industrial IRE, which represents about 30% of the electricity demand, registered a growth of 2.8%, while the services sector, which accounts for about 13%, decreased by 0.5%, after having factored in the effects of seasonal and working patterns.

Electricity generation

Renewable energies have maintained their prominent role in the overall production of electrical energy within the Spanish peninsular electricity system with a contribution that covered 36.9% of the total. In 2015, a year with less wind and less rain, the contribution of wind energy was 19%, while hydroelectric energy reduced its share in the generation mix to 11% of the total.

Coal and combined cycle power stations increased their production compared to 2014, and have represented 20.3% and 10.1% of the electricity production on the peninsula. Meanwhile, nuclear, with 21.8% of the total, remains as the main source of electricity generation on the Spanish Peninsula.

The increase in the use of technologies that use fossil fuels has resulted in an increase in CO₂ emissions from electricity generation of 15.1% over the previous year, reaching 77.4 million tonnes emitted.

Installed power capacity on the Spanish Peninsula

As of 31 December 2015, the Spanish electricity system had an installed power capacity of 106,247 MW, a value 0.5% higher than in 2014. This slight increase corresponds to the bringing into service of the 878 MW ‘La Muela II’ pumped-storage hydroelectric power station and the 23 MW San Pedro II hydroelectric power station.                           

This increase in power capacity, helped to offset the closure of the 506 MW ‘Foix’ power station, which was the very last fuel-gas fired power station in the peninsular electricity system.

414 kilometres of new line

During 2015, a total of 414 kilometres of new line was brought into operation, meaning that by the end of the year the national grid reached a total of 43,124 kilometres of line and transformer capacity reached 84,794 MVA.

The availability rate of the transmission grid on the Spanish Peninsula reached 97.94%, and in the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, the rate was 96.88% and 96.76% respectively. For yet another year, these service quality indicators show the good condition and reliability of the national transmission grid.

International exchanges

The volume of scheduled international electricity exchanges totalled 23,303 GWh, an increase of 2.6% over 2014. Exports fell 10.2% to 11,725 ​​GWh and imports reached 11,578 GWh (20% more than in 2014), resulting in a net balance of 147 GWh as an exporter.

New report layout and content

In this edition, Red Eléctrica has introduced changes in the approach, content and layout of the report compared to the previous model so as to adapt it to current communication trends and media tools. The new Spanish Electricity System Report 2015 has been drafted bearing in mind the desire for it to become a tool for the dissemination of information about the system and to reach a greater number of users without losing the rigor and quality of its information. The data tables have been removed from the printed version and are now available as Excel files that are accessible on the corporate website: www.ree.es, and new content related to the variation in the IRE, the evolution and composition of electricity markets and comparisons within the European stage, among others, have been included in the new edition.

The complete Spanish Electricity System Report 2015 and all additional documentation can be found on the following: https://www.ree.es/en/statistical-data-of-spanish-electrical-system/annual-report/spanish-electricity-system-2015 

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