The number of clients in the free electricity market increased in May by about 6,700, compared to the previous month, and rose by 1.5% year-on-year, to a cumulative total of 5.47 million, the ERSE announced on Monday.
According to the Bulletin of the Liberalized Electric Power Market of May 2022, from the Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE), in terms of consumption there was a decrease of 41.7 GWh (Gigawatt-hour) compared to April, reaching 42,558 GWh.
In May, the free market represented more than 85.6% of the total number of customers and around 93.8% of consumption in mainland Portugal, showing an increase of 0.1 percentage points and a decrease of 0.2 points, respectively , compared to the relative weight of the same month
According to the ERSE, “almost all” of the number of free market customers is concentrated in the residential customer segmentwhich represented 98.9% of the total.
The residential customer segment, which represents 37.6% of free market consumption, showed a reduction (1.1%) compared to the same period of the previous year, followed by industrial customers (33.9%) and large consumers (21.2%).
The small business segment is the segment with the least representation in terms of consumption (7.2%), having presented a slight reduction (0.6%) in the weight of consumption compared to the month of the previous year.
In terms of market share, EDP Comercial maintained its position as the main operator in the free market by number of clients (73.2%) and consumption (42.1%).
Compared to April, the share of EDP Comercial decreased 0.2 percentage points in terms of number of clients and remained unchanged in terms of consumption.
Endesa and Goldenergy registered, in May, a increase in its shares in number of customers 0.3 and 0.2 percentage points, respectively.
For their part, Iberdrola and the set of suppliers grouped under the heading “Others” registered a reduction in shares of 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points, respectively.
In the month of analysis, EDP maintained its leadership in the industrial customer segment (25.3%), registering an increase of 0.5 percentage points in its market share compared to the previous month.
In the large consumer segment, the Endesa (22.4%) surpassed iberdrola (22.2%), after an increase of 2.3 percentage points compared to April.
The ERSE data also indicates that the concentration of the market, in relation to the previous month, decreased 0.5 percentage points in the number of clients and remained unchanged in consumption.
Source: Observadora
