January cold snap pushes electricity consumption to a 9-year high, generation driven mainly by gas

January electricity consumption in the Czech Republic was the highest since 2017 due to cold weather. It rose by nearly 8 % year on year, exceeding 6.5 TWh. It was covered primarily by lignite-fired power plants and nuclear sources. However, the largest year-on-year increase in generation was recorded by natural gas-fired power plants, whose output rose by nearly 80 % to 832 GWh. This follows from data available on Energostat.

Cold weather in January, which was according to data published on the website of Czech market operator OTE, a.s. more than 3 degrees Celsius colder than last January and around 1.5 degrees Celsius below the normal temperature for January, led to higher electricity consumption in the Czech Republic. According to data published on Energostat, electricity consumption in the Czech Republic rose by nearly 8 % year on year, representing the highest monthly consumption since January 2017.