MADRID, 29 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Total natural gas consumption has reached 325.4 terawatt hours (TWh) this year, which represents 10.7% less than in 2022, due to lower electricity consumption, according to data from Enagás.

Specifically, conventional demand, destined for consumption by homes, businesses and industries, stood at 229.9 TWh, mainly due to greater industrial consumption, which grew by 3.9% to reach 169.8 TWh.

Meanwhile, the demand for gas for electricity generation was about 95.6 TWh, which represents a decrease of 30.8%, after the highest value since 2010 was recorded in 2022.

Likewise, in 2023, Spain was the non-producing country that has re-exported the most LNG in the world, with 22.1 TWh. In addition, natural gas exports to Europe by gas pipeline through France - through the Irún and Larrau interconnections - increased by 6.1%, to 37.5 TWh, contributing to reinforcing the security of European energy supply.

In the month of April, the historical monthly export record to France was reached, with 6.52 TWh/month, and on May 17, the historical daily export record was recorded, with 261.5 GWh/day, which represents the 98.7% of its capacity.

On the other hand, Enagás highlighted that, in a European energy environment marked by conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, the Spanish gas system operated with 100% availability 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and showed "great robustness and flexibility".

In this sense, natural gas filling levels in underground storage ended the year above 90% - after having reached 100% filling in August - and above 80% in regasification plants, values ​​in both cases higher than those of the previous year.

Furthermore, in 2023, Spanish regasification plants had a high diversification of supply - with 17 different supply origins in 2023 -, positioning Spain as a strategic entry point for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Europe.

Spain contributed to the security of supply for the rest of Europe by sending gas, both through interconnections and with refills of LNG ships that have been destined for other European Union countries such as Italy or Germany. Also during this time, the El Musel Plant (Musel E-Hub) was incorporated to reinforce European security of supply.