According to Enagas, Spain's gas transmission operator, the Spanish national demand for natural gas in 2016 has grown by 2% compared to 2015, reaching 321 TWh (31.8 bcm).
This increase was pulled by the 3% rise in industry, including a 11% surge in the construction sector driven by the boom in gas consumption in the manufacture of ceramic products. In addition, consumption of natural gas in households, businesses and SMEs has grown by 2.3% compared to 2015, mainly due to the increase of new gas customers and temperatures slightly lower than those recorded in 2015.
Conversely, the demand for natural gas for electricity generation dropped by around 2% compared to 2015 although natural consumption broke monthly records in October and November to compensate the lower contributions from wind and hydro power to electricity generation and the increase in electricity exports to France, mainly owing to the shutdown of nuclear power plants in this country.