In the first week of March, electricity demand decreased across most major European markets compared to the previous week. The Netherlands experienced the largest drop, with a 16% decline, while Portugal saw the smallest decrease at just 1%. Other markets such as Italy, Belgium, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom recorded demand drops ranging from 3.3% in Italy to 7.6% in the UK. Belgium, Germany, and the UK saw their demand decline for the third consecutive week, while France and Portugal experienced declines for the fourth and sixth consecutive weeks, respectively. In Italy, demand continued its downward trend for the second week. Conversely, Spain was the exception, with a 1.1% increase in demand for the second consecutive week.
The decrease in demand was largely influenced by higher average temperatures across much of Europe, which reduced the need for heating. Average temperatures in Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, and the UK rose between 1.0°C in Portugal and 2.9°C in the UK. In contrast, Italy recorded a slight drop in temperatures, with a decrease of 0.2°C compared to the previous week.
Looking ahead to the week of March 10, AleaSoft Energy Forecasting’s demand projections suggest an increase in demand across France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the UK, and the Netherlands. However, demand is expected to decrease in both the Italian and German markets, AleaSoft reports.
