Electricity production and electricity consumption increased during last 6 and

Electricity production and electricity consumption increased during last 6 and half months. The balance (export-import) remains high in percentage terms. The share of base power stations also remains high. Data on the participation of renewable energy sources (RES) in both transmission and distribution networks are also better. This is not the case with the data for the share of hydroelectric power plants. The change in indicators towards the second ten days of July is already more noticeable, says the operational report of the electricity system operator (ESO) on the energy balance of the country for the period from January 1 to July 17 this year (01.01.2022 - 07.17.2022) compared to the same period of the previous year 2021. Electricity production for the period from the first day of January to the seventeenth day of July increased by 16.58% and reached a volume of 28,842,986 MWh (plus 16.69% reported a week earlier for the compared period until July 10). For comparison, during the same period last year, electricity production amounted to 24,740,727 MWh. Power consumption still remains positive. Thus, for the indicated time, electricity consumption grew (plus) by 0.79% to a volume of 21,483,718 MWh (plus 1.04% a week ago). A year earlier, for the comparable period from the beginning of the year to the seventeenth day of the seventh month, electricity consumption was in the order of 21,316,229 MWh. The balance (export-import) still holds a high enough share in percentage terms that for the reported time from the beginning of this year to the seventeenth of July it grew (plus) by 114.90% or to a volume of the order of 7,359,268 MWh (plus 115.65% reported for the previous period until July 10). During the same period last year, the balance (export-import) was in a much lower volume of 3,424,498 MWh. Base plants still retain a high positive share, as for the compared period from the first day of January to the seventeenth day of July, it increased to 25.22%, which is an increase to a volume of 24,233,434 MWh (plus 25.67% a week earlier) compared to the same period period of the previous year 2021. According to the data of the system operator, a year earlier, for the same days, the participation of the base plants was of the order of 19,352,195 MWh. The share of RES in the transmission and distribution networks remains high and there is even a slight improvement in the data. The participation of RES in the transmission network for the indicated compared period of this year compared to last year grows by 21.86% or to a volume of 877,940 MWh (plus 21.05% a week ago). A year earlier, for the period from the beginning of the year to the seventeenth day of July, RES participated with a volume of 720,470 MWh. The better data for the current days of 2022 is mainly due to the increase in the participation of wind (plus 13.95 %) and photovoltaic (plus 43.50 %) plants, as well as biomass (plus 0.12 %). The share of RES in the distribution network, according to the data of the system operator for the compared reporting period from the first day of January to the seventeenth day of July this year, grew by 16.10% or to a volume of 1,269,619 MWh (plus 16% a week ago). During the similar days, but a year earlier, the share of RES in the distribution network was in the volume of 1,093,528 MWh. In particular, the better results during the current compared period are due to the increased share of wind (plus 17.97 %) and photovoltaic (plus 20.36 %) plants and despite biomass (minus 20.49 %). Hydroelectric plants (HPPs) still cannot catch up and remain in the red. Thus, for the period from the first of January to the seventeenth of July this year, the participation of hydroelectric power plants decreased to a volume of 2,461,993 MWh, which represents a drop (minus) of 31.12% (minus 31.72% reported a week ago). For comparison, during the analogous period of the previous year 2021, the participation of hydropower plants, according to the data of the system operator, was in the order of 3,574,534 MWh.