Lower energy consumption in Q1 2014
Press release
Observed energy consumption fell by almost 10% in Q1 2014 compared with the same period last year. This is apparent from the quarterly statistics from the Danish Energy Agency, which also report a large drop in consumption of natural gas and coal, while consumption of renewable energy rose strongly, partly as a result of a good increase in wind-power production.
In the first quarter of 2014, observed energy consumption fell by 9.7% relative to the first quarter of 2013. This development in energy consumption was affected by the considerably warmer weather in Q1 2014 compared with the same period in year before. During first quarter there were 25% fewer degree days compared with the same period in the previous year. Furthermore, there was a small transformation loss at power plants as a result of displacement of fossil fuels for electricity production by wind power.
The drop in consumption covers reductions in the consumption of oil, natural gas and coal by 3.0%, 25.0% and 30.3% respectively compared with Q1 in 2013. At the same time, consumption of renewable energy rose in the first three months of the year by 19.2%. This is particularly due to an increase in the consumption of biomass at large-scale plants and more wind power production.
Energy consumption adjusted for trade in electricity fell in the first quarter of 2014 by 9.8% compared with the same period last year.
Primary energy production dropped by 4.9% in Q1 2014 compared with the same period the year before. This is primarily due to drops in production of crude oil and natural gas of 14.7% and 6.6% respectively. The fall in North Sea production was counterbalanced in part by an increase of 25.9% in renewable energy production. This is especially due to an increase in the production of wind power of 70% compared with Q1 in the year before.
Figure1: Energy production and consumption 1 Quarter 2013 and 2014
Unit TJProduction of primary energyObserved consumptionConsumption adjusted for net imports of electricity1. Quarter 2014179 284197 481192 8991. Quarter 2013188 552218 716213 889
Figure 2: Observed total energy consumtion in Denmark by energy product, PJ
Ali A. Zarnaghi
Fuldmægtig
Center for Klima og Energiøkonomi
Tlf.: 33 92 68 40
aaz@ens.dk
Jane Rusbjerg
Specialkonsulent
Center for Klima og Energiøkonomi
Tlf.: 33 92 68 36
jru@ens.dk