Freezing weather in Czechia boosts energy consumption, gas use rises by up to 58 percent

Freezing weather over the past week has significantly increased energy consumption. Natural gas use rose by 58 percent compared with the average during the heating season, while heat consumption also increased by as much as a fifth. Electricity consumption rose more modestly, by more than five percent compared with the previous week. Cold days combined with sunny weather also boosted electricity generation from renewable sources, which has increased by up to 30 percent in recent days. Energy supplies are continuing without problems. ČEZ and GasNet told the Czech News Agency (CTK) today. CTK is gathering data on consumption over the past week from other distributors.

The effect of the weather on energy consumption is particularly evident in gas use. GasNet, the country's largest distributor, which covers around 80 percent of the territory, recorded consumption of more than 33.3 million cubic metres of gas on Monday, traditionally the day of the week with the highest consumption. Average daily distribution during the heating season is around 21 million cubic metres.

Consumption has also clearly increased for other forms of energy. „The current freezing temperatures this week are increasing electricity consumption by more than five percent compared with the previous week. The cold is having an even greater effect on heat consumption itself. At ČEZ Teplárenská, heat demand is up by as much as 20 percent compared with typical winter consumption,“ ČEZ spokesperson Ladislav Kříž told CTK today.

Gas companies are increasing the readiness of their emergency and fault-response teams because of the freezing temperatures, and are also carrying out preventive checks of regulatory and transfer stations. „We are coping well with the frosts, although the situation is not easy in some locations. It is always most difficult in mountainous and foothill areas. The good news is that the cold snap has not been accompanied by heavy snowfall, which would have made it harder for us to access our gas facilities. But we would be able to deal with that too if necessary,” said GasNet CEO Andrzej Martynek.

Gas supplies have continued without interruption across the country despite the cold weather, including in areas hit by last year's floods. According to Martynek, the distributor paid particular attention to these areas, deploying additional staff in the Jeseník region and other flooded communities to check the condition of the network daily. In Jeseník itself, GasNet also connected a backup LNG storage tank to provide gas immediately if needed.

The freezing but sunny weather is also having a positive effect on electricity generation from renewable sources. According to Kříž, output from these sources has increased by up to 30 percent in recent days. „Clear, sunny days and cold weather have a positive effect particularly on generation at solar power plants, which make efficient use of their potential and experience no heat losses during generation,“ Kříž noted.

Temperatures in some parts of Czechia fell below minus 20 degrees Celsius again overnight. The most severe frost was recorded at the Jizerka-Horní Jizera station in the Jablonec region, where temperatures reached minus 27.6 degrees. On average, however, last night was warmer than the previous one, which meteorologists said was the coldest of this winter, with the average minimum temperature at minus 12.7 degrees Celsius. The lowest temperature was recorded by meteorologists at Jizerka-Horní Jizera, as it was today, at minus 30.1 degrees Celsius. According to the forecast, temperatures in Czechia will start to rise in the coming days.