ELECTRICITY: Spain’s Hydro Stocks Fall Another Week

Spanish hydropower reserves declined to 49.5% of capacity as of the end of week 35, down from 50.9% the week prior according to data from Spain’s Environmental Ministry.

• Spanish hydropower output from reservoirs increased by 324MW last week to 1.66GW. Output from pumped storage edged higher by 54MW week on week to 928MW, while run-of-river generation was broadly stable on the week at 582MW.
• Wind output in Spain last week declined by 1.15GW to 4.21GW and solar PV output declined by 1.05GW to 6.73GW.
• Spanish nuclear generation last week was broadly stable at 6.91GW, while gas-fired output rose by 2.35GW to 7.3GW.
• Power demand in Spain last week averaged 28.31GW, up from 27.75GW the week before.
• Precipitation in the hydro-intensive region of Huesca last week totalled 54.87mm, well above the 30-year normal of 3.55mm.
• Looking ahead, the latest ECMWF forecasts suggested precipitation in Huesca to total 63.71mm this week, well above the seasonal normal of 5.07mm, supporting inflows into reserves.
• Mean temperatures in Madrid are forecast to fall below the seasonal normal from Wednesday, limiting demand for cooling.
• Wind output for the remainder of this week in Spain is forecast at 3.03GW to 6.56GW during base load, equal to load factors of 11-24%. Solar PV output is forecast at 11.92GW to 12.92GW during peak load – equal to load factors of 47-51% according to SpotRenewables.