During the week of February 23, electricity demand across major European markets experienced a notable decrease compared to the previous week. The French market exhibited the most significant decline, plummeting by 13%, marking its second consecutive week of reduced demand. Following France, the British and German markets reported declines of 8.7% and 8.6%, respectively. The Spanish market, while still on a downward trend, saw the smallest drop at 1.9%, extending its five-week streak of decreasing demand. Other markets such as Italy, Portugal, and Belgium recorded declines of 2.5%, 3.6%, and 6.4%, respectively. Notably, both Italy and Great Britain marked their fourth consecutive week of declines, whereas Portugal faced its third week of lower demand.
The decline in electricity consumption coincided with milder average temperatures across all analyzed markets, which contributed to the reduced demand for electricity. In particular, Spain and Portugal experienced the least significant temperature increases, with rises of only 0.4 °C and 0.6 °C, respectively. Conversely, temperatures in Italy, France, Great Britain, Belgium, and Germany rose significantly more, ranging from an increase of 1.2 °C in Italy to as much as 6.8 °C in Germany.
Looking ahead to the week of March 2, projections from AleaSoft Energy Forecasting indicate that electricity demand is expected to rise in most European markets, with the exception of Italy where a further decline is anticipated.
