Networked Gas Daily Supply and Demand May 2024

Introduction

This release contains daily and monthly natural gas supply and demand figures from Gas Networks Ireland.

Consumption Units

The data are gross calorific values expressed in gigawatt hours (GWh). A kilowatt hour is a unit of energy equivalent to one kilowatt of power sustained over an hour. A gigawatt hour is equivalent to one million kWh.

Calorific Value

Calorific Value is a measure of the energy contained in gas. The calorific value depends on the composition of the gas. It refers to the amount of energy released when a known volume of gas is completely combusted under specified conditions. The calorific value of natural gas is measured continually using process gas chromatographs.

Customer Type

• Imports are brought into Ireland via the Interconnector.
• Gross Indigenous Production includes gas from the Kinsale and Corrib offshore pipelines and biomethane.
• Non-Daily Metered (NDM) customers have an annual consumption of less than 5.55 GWh. This category includes households and industry and services sectors with relatively low levels of demand.
• Daily Metered (DM) customers have an annual consumption equal to or greater than 5.55 GWh and less than 57.5 GWh.
• Large Daily Metered (LDM) are customers where the annual quantity on the first day of the capacity booking period of a large daily metered capacity booking was 57.5 GWh or higher.
• Power Plants are a sub-sector of the large daily metered sector. Power generation covers gas fired thermal generation.

Data Source and Confidentiality

The CSO received the administrative microdata from Gas Networks Ireland. The daily biomethane figures are confidential. Biomethane is included in the monthly supply figures but excluded from the daily supply figures.

Gas Day

Gas Day means a period beginning at 05:00 and ending at 05:00 on the following day.

Seasonal Variation

The daily natural gas demand figures for households and power plants have a higher level of seasonal variation than the figures for large daily metered customers. On days where there is less wind available, a higher proportion of electricity is generated by gas fired thermal generation plants. Summer months are when natural gas demand by power plants is at its highest. Household heating demand is higher in winter months hence non-daily metered natural gas demand is highest in winter months.

Legal Basis

The data were obtained under Section 30 of the Statistics Act, 1993.

Release Frequency

This release is published on a monthly basis.

Revisions

Data for all years and months are subject to revision.

Met Éireann

The maximum daily air temperature and daily mean wind speed at Dublin Airport is obtained from the Met Éireann website.