With more than 273,000 sales, the figure for new electric passenger cars registered in the European Union in the third quarter of 2020 is the highest ever recorded, according to the quarterly report on the EU electricity market published by the European Commission on Tuesday 12 January.
The institution believes this is due to supportive policies put in place by Member States.
Like the quarterly report on the gas market published on the same day, this document also shows the impact of containment measures due to the Covid-19 pandemic, despite the easing of restrictions in almost all EU countries during this period.
Thus, although this relaxation has led to levels of demand for gas and electricity much closer to pre-pandemic levels, consumption figures for the third quarter remain lower than those for the same period in 2019.
Electricity
According to the report on the electricity market, electricity consumption in the EU fell by 3% in the third quarter of 2020 compared with the same quarter the previous year.
In addition, the structure of electricity generation has changed due to a combination of factors: relatively high carbon prices, low demand, improved availability of hydropower and increased solar generation.
Electricity production from coal-fired power stations thus fell by 11% (-11 TWh) compared with the previous year, while renewable energy production increased by 21 TWh, i.e. by 33%.
Gas-fired power plants, on the other hand, managed to keep their output relatively unchanged thanks to the continued shift from coal to gas.
For its part, electricity production from nuclear power plants fell by 16% (-28 TWh), mainly due to extended shutdowns and maintenance overruns in France and Belgium.
Finally, even though wholesale electricity prices have continued to recover following the gradual return of electricity demand to “normal” levels, the European Power Benchmark averaged €34/MWh in the third quarter of 2020, 15% less than in the same quarter of the previous year.
Gas
Gas consumption in the third quarter of 2020 amounted to 71.5 billion cubic metres, a drop of only 0.6% compared with the 71.9 billion cubic metres in the third quarter of 2019.
Imports of gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG), on the other hand, fell more sharply (-6% and -15% respectively), as did gas production in the EU (-29%).
Retail gas prices for households and industry decreased by 12 and 6% respectively in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, reflecting the fall in wholesale gas prices over the previous two quarters.
See report on electricity: https://bit.ly/3oMRViA and gas: https://bit.ly/3qhrfXr (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)