Electricity consumption in Russia up 5.5% in December
MOSCOW. Jan 11 (Interfax) - Electricity consumption in Russia rose 5.5% year-on-year to 104.7 billion kWh in December 2016, System Operator (SO UES) said in a statement.
Consumption in the Unified Energy System (UES) rose 5.6% to 101.8 billion kWh.
Russian power plants generated 106 billion kWh of electricity in December, with plants in the UES generating 103.6 billion kWh, respectively 5.7% and 6% more than a year earlier.
Thermal power plants covered most of the demand for electricity in Russia's UES in December, generating 65.2 billion kWh, 6.7% more year-on-year. Hydropower plants generated 13.6 billion kWh, the same as in the previous month but 5.8% more year-on-year; nuclear power plants generated 19.2 billion kWh, 5.2% more year-on-year; and the power plants of industrial enterprises increased generation by 1.7% year-on-year to 5.5 billion kWh.
Peak consumption of capacity in Russia's UES was 151.052 GW, 5.1% more than in December 2015.
SO UES attributes the growth of consumption in December to colder weather, as the average monthly temperature in December was minus 10.7 degrees Celsius, 5.7 degrees lower than a year earlier.
Power consumption in the full year 2016 rose 1.7% to 1.054 trillion kWh, rising 1.8% in the UES to 1.027 trillion kWh. The growth was caused mainly by the extra day for the leap year. If not for this, power consumption would have risen 1.5% in the UES and 1.4% in Russia as a whole.
Power plants generated 1.072 trillion kWh of electricity in the year, up 2.1%. The UES produced 1.048 trillion kWh. Without the leap year factor, output would have risen 1.8%.
Thermal power plants supplied 614.3 billion kWh in 2016, as in 2015. Hydropower plants generated 178.3 billion kWh, up 11.3%, nuclear plants - 196.1 billion kWh, up 0.6%, and captive power plants - 59.5 billion kWh, up 3.3%.