Polish power demand returns to growth

OREANDA-NEWS. February 15, 2016. Electricity demand in Poland returned to growth in January, recovering from a short-lived decline in December, according to grid operator PSE.

Demand grew by more than 2.7pc compared with a year earlier to 14.9TWh in January, the strongest monthly year-on-year growth since August (see table). Strong consumption in January continues the overall trend in 2015, when consumption grew by 1.7pc to more than 161.4TWh.

Polish demand recorded year-on-year growth in every month of 2015 with exception of January and December, when consumption was subdued by mild weather.

Electricity generation rose by more than 3pc compare with a year earlier to over 15TWh last month, marking 12 consecutive months of year-to-year growth.

Coal-fired power plants were main driver of output growth in January, producing nearly 8.1TWh, up by 13pc from a year earlier. Coal's share of total Polish production rose to 55pc in the system generators sector, and nearly 60pc including industrial power plants — which mainly produce power and heat for in-house needs of large manufacturing plants, but also sell to the grid.

Power production by lignite plants — the second-largest source of power in Poland — fell by nearly 11pc compared with January 2015 to less than 4.1TWh. Wind generation, the third-largest source of electricity, rose by a modest 1.2pc to more than 1.1 TWh.

Poland was net exporter of electricity for a fifth consecutive month in January, with net exports of 103GWh, nearly double the amount a year earlier, but down by 59pc from December.