November Gas Demand increased on October, but fell on the same period last year
Colder temperatures in November compared to October saw a 13% increase in gas demand from October. However, as November was still a relatively mild month overall, gas demand decreased by 7% compared to the same month last year.
There were also month-on-month increases in gas demand from a number of sectors in November, including in the air travel1 (+286%), education2 (+45%), leisure/sport arenas (+35%), offices3 (34%) and manufacturing (+27%) sectors.
As this November was a milder month than November last year, gas demand in the residential (-50%) and offices (-22%) sectors fell markedly year-on-year. While gas demand from the manufacturing sector increased by 24% in the same period.
Wind energy provided up to 76% of Ireland’s electricity demand at times during November. However, as is the nature of intermittent renewable energy sources, there were also times during the month when the wind supply fell away almost entirely and provided less than 1% of electricity generation.
Gas generated 39% of Ireland’s electricity in November, as it did during October. Gas’s share of electricity generation was down 5% when compared to November last year. At times during the month, gas powered up to 83% of the country’s electricity generation needs. The share of electricity generated by gas did not drop below 12% at any point during November.
Coal contributed 6% of power generation in November - peaking at 19%, with a low of less than 1%.
Gas Networks Ireland’s Head of Regulatory Affairs, Brian Mullins, said:
“Even though November was a comparatively mild month, the heating season began in earnest. While we saw a fall in gas demand when compared to a colder November last year; gas demand saw a 14% increase on the previous month.
“As was the case in October, wind energy made the largest contribution to Ireland’s electricity generation, meeting 45% of electricity demand and peaking at an impressive 76%.
“However, the role of gas in supporting weather dependant wind generation was once again evident, as at times during the month wind supply fell away and provided less than 1% of electricity generation. The share of electricity generated by gas did not drop below 12% at any point during November and at times generated up to 83%.”
In November, Gas Networks Ireland also published its 2022/23 Winter Outlook, which stated that it did not envisage any disruption to gas supply during the winter months.
The Winter Outlook indicated that there is both enough gas supply sources and enough network capacity to meet the anticipated gas demand projections over the coming winter period, including in the case of an extremely cold day that would only occur once every 50 years.
It is expected that about 21% of the State’s natural gas requirements will be supplied from the Corrib gas field off the coast of Co Mayo during the 2022/23 winter period.
Gas Networks Ireland’s Winter Outlook 2022/23 can be found at: www.gasnetworks.ie/winter-outlook-2022.pdf