The number of customers on the free gas market fell 0.2% in August, but in electricity it rose 2.2%
The liberalized natural gas market registered around 1.1 million customers in August, 0.2% less than in the same month of 2023, while the electricity market gained 2.2%, to 5.6 million customers.
According to data released today by the Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE), in August, the liberalized natural gas market registered around 1.1 million customers, for an estimated consumption on an annual basis of 29,317 gigawatt-hours (GWh), the which represents a 0.2% reduction in the number of customers and a 3.3% drop in consumption, compared to the same month last year.
Compared to the previous month, the free natural gas market gained 630 customers.
Natural gas consumption in the liberalized market represented, in August, around 95% of the total consumption recorded in mainland Portugal.
Galp maintained its position as the main operator in the free consumer market (51.2% market share), while EDP Comercial maintained its leadership position in terms of number of customers (41%).
In the industrial customer segment, Galp maintained its leadership (36.8%), as well as in the large consumer segment (56.7%), while EDP maintained the largest market share in the small and medium-sized companies segment (37.5%) and in the residential segment (39.5%).
With regard to electricity, there were a cumulative number of around 5.6 million customers in the liberalized market in the month under review, with a net increase of around 9,956 customers compared to July, reflecting a growth of approximately 2. 2% compared to the same month.
In terms of consumption, there was a drop of 99.60 GWh compared to July, reaching 41,566 GWh.
Consumption on the free market represented, in August, more than 94.7% of the total consumption recorded in mainland Portugal.
In the month under review, EDP Comercial maintained its position as the main operator in the free market in terms of number of customers (63.6%) and consumption (35.2%), while Iberdrola became the supplier with the greatest representation in terms of consumption in the industrial customer segment (24.7%) and maintained leadership in the large consumer segment (32.5%).
