Gas consumption in Czechia continues to rise, driven by weather and accelerating coal-to-gas switching

Gas consumption in Czechia continues to rise this year. In the first nine months of this year, Czechs consumed more than 53 terawatt-hours (TWh) of natural gas, 11 percent more than last year. Colder weather has been the main factor. The trend of large and medium-sized sources switching from coal to gas is also increasingly being confirmed. This follows from statistics from the Energy Regulatory Office (ERÚ) and distributors obtained by ČTK.

However, according to the regulator’s data, this year began with an across-the-board decline in consumption, with gas use in January several percent lower year on year. In subsequent months, however, consumption rose more significantly compared with last year. The reason was the weather, which had been colder since February than in the previous year. The situation reversed only in August, when gas companies recorded a slight year-on-year decline in consumption.

The increase in consumption is evident among households as well as large and medium-sized customers, which mainly include district heating plants, chemical plants and industrial businesses. According to GasNet, the country’s largest gas distributor, their interest in gas has risen since the start of the year, with 61 new customers from this segment connected to GasNet’s distribution network in the first three quarters. This represents a year-on-year increase of 38.6 percent.