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ARCHIVED - Electricity usage at all-time high during this heatwave in Andalusia
Andalucia drew on more electricity this week than ever before during the summer months
Andalucia has registered some of the highest temperatures in all of Spain during this current heatwave, and with air conditioners and fans running full blast in many homes, it’s unsurprising that electricity usage has also skyrocketed, reaching its absolute peak on Monday July 25 when a red weather alert was in place.
Between the communities of Andalucia and Extremadura, at the start of the week 8,365 megawatts (MW) of energy were being pulled at 2.52pm, surpassing the previous summer record where 8,280 MW was reached on August 11 2010.
This is the first time in recent years that electricity usage during the summer months came so close to the winter values, when demand is naturally higher in both Andalucia and Badajoz due to the cold weather and darker evenings.
In fact, Monday’s figure is only 12 megawatts short of the Endesa energy company’s all-time high, registered on January 13 2009.
More locally, only Jaén has beaten its highest historical value while the rest of the provinces, with the exception of Huelva, easily exceeded the demands of last summer and crept very close to breaking their overall records.
Electricity companies are generally well prepared for these episodes of increased demand, working closely with the Andalucian regional government to improve their energy infrastructure and carrying out essential maintenance tasks like felling and pruning vegetation near power lines and reviewing their facilities so that defects can be detected and corrected far in advance.
Also of interest: The deadly side of heatwaves — almost 2,000 people have died this year in Spain from the heat
Image: Flickr
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