Trends in fossil gas consumption & imports – December 2024

In 2024, total gas consumption in Greece was 66.2 TWh, up 30% compared to 2023 (50.9 TWh). The increase came from all three uses, with the largest increase coming from electricity (+10.9 TWh). December 2024 saw the second highest gas consumption (7.13 TWh) since the beginning of the measurement period (2008). The first source of imports in 2024 was Russian gas from Turkstream, with a share of 50.4%, in contrast to 2023 when LNG was first.

The month of December

According to the latest available data from DESFA, in December 2024 total domestic gas consumption exceeded 7 TWh (7.13 TWh), for the second time since the beginning of measurement (2008). This is the second highest monthly consumption since January 2019 (7.45 TWh).

In terms of uses, the largest increase in absolute terms compared to December last year came from electricity (+1.85 TWh or +67.1%), which recorded the highest use in six years for the month of December. The increase was smaller in absolute terms in distribution networks (+0.28 TWh or +18.4%) and even smaller in industry (+0.12 TWh +21.9%).

Cumulative performance in the twelve months of 2024

Cumulatively, gas consumption in 2024 was 66.2 TWh, up 30% compared to 2023 (50.9 TWh). It was the second highest consumption in the 6-year period after 2021 (69.96 TWh).

There is an increase in all three end uses comparing 2024 with 2023. The largest percentage increase was recorded in industry (+74.2% or +3.84 TWh), while in absolute terms the largest increase was recorded in electricity with +10.9 TWh (+31.6%). The increase in distribution networks was small (+4.8% or +0.53 TWh).

In comparison, in 2023 an increase was recorded compared to 2022 only in industry (+84.7% or 2.4 TWh), while the other two uses recorded a decrease.

Comparing 2024 with the five-year average, an increase was recorded in two of the three uses. The largest percentage increase was in industry (+32.7% or +2.22 TWh), followed by electricity (+12.1% or +4.91 TWh). In contrast, there was a slight decrease in networks (-1.2% or -0.15 TWh).

Consumption in 2024

Gas consumption in December 2024 reached 7.13 TWh, marking the highest monthly consumption of the year. This represents a 46.5% increase (+2.26 TWh) compared to December 2023, when consumption was 4.87 TWh. Throughout 2024, every month recorded higher gas consumption compared to the corresponding month in 2023. The highest percentage increase was recorded in November (+82.3%) and the lowest in April (8.1%).

In contrast to 2024, gas consumption in 2023 increased compared to 2022 in only three months (April, September, and October), while all other months saw a decline.

Looking at the breakdown of gas consumption by end uses in 2024, electricity had the largest share with 45.45 TWh (or 68.7%), almost one percentage higher than 2023 (67.8%). The share in distribution networks decreased in percentage terms, falling from 22% (or 11.19 TWh) in 2023 to 17.7% (or 11.73 TWh). This redistribution was the result of an increase in the share of industry, which rose from 10.2% (or 5.18 TWh) in 2023 to 13.6% or 9.02 TWh in 2024.

The voluntary European target of -15%

In March 2024, the European Union issued a recommendation for Member States to continue their efforts in reducing gas consumption by 15% for the period April 2024 to March 2025, compared to the reference period from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2022.

Therefore, considering Greece’s performance so far, it appears that for the first eight months of the new voluntary reduction period (April-December 2024)1, the country did not decrease its gas consumption compared to the reference period2, but instead increased it by 18%. In particular, consumption (50 TWh) was 14 TWh higher than the voluntary target (36 TWh), while it exceeded the average of the reference period (42.4 TWh) by 7.6 TWh.

Comparing Greece’s performance with the other EU-27 Member States3 for the first eight months of the new voluntary reduction period (April-November 2024) , Greece increased its consumption by 16.8% compared to the reference period of the voluntary reduction target. This performance places Greece last compared to the other EU Member States, of which only three increased their gas consumption and 23 reduced it. The other two Member States, where consumption increased, were Poland (+2.2%) and Malta (+1.7%). The EU-27 ranked 17th (-17.6%), meeting the voluntary target for reducing gas consumption (-15%).

Imports in 2024

December

Total imports in December were 7.32 TWh, while exports from the IGB (Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria) at Komotini were 0.2 TWh.

The first source of imports for December was LNG with 3.71 TWh (50.7% share). The share of imports from the Agia Triada gate – the largest of the 2 LNG entry gates – was 38.1% (or 2.78 TWh). It was the second highest monthly import volume of the year for this gate, after January (3.13 TWh). At Amfitriti, the second LNG gate -where FSRU Alexandroupolis4 is located- imports in the third month of operations were 0.92 TWh.

In parallel with the increase in liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows, the share of Russian gas from Turkstream decreased in December. In particular, for this month Russian gas imports via pipeline were 2.67 TWh with a monthly share (36.5%), thus ranking second behind LNG. This happened for the first time for 2024 in November, as Russian pipeline gas held the lead for the first ten months.

Azeri gas from TAP via Nea Mesimvria was third with a share of 12.9% (0.94 TWh).

Imports at the fourth gateway, Kipoi from Turkey, have been zero for the entirety of 2024.

2024

In 2024, total imports from Greece’s gateways were 66.94 TWh, up 24.1% compared to 2023. Imports through the Sidirokastro gateway were the first source of supply to the country, accounting for a little more than half of total imports (33.8 TWh and a share of 50.4%). The corresponding share in 2023 was only 27.3%.

In second place with 21.02 TWh and a share of 31.4% were total LNG imports, marking a large decrease compared to 2023, where they held the first place with a share of 54.7%. Imports from the Agia Triada gate were 18.34 TWh, while imports from the Amphitriti gate were 2.69 TWh.

Azeri gas imports through TAP remained in third place with 12.16 TWh and a share of 18.2%, up 63.6% compared to 2024.

Finally, there were zero gas exports through the Sidirokastro gate for all 2024 and since September 2023.

Russian gas imports to Greece

As far as fossil gas from Russia is concerned, there are two entry points: one from Sidirokastro through the Turkstream pipeline and a second one from the Agia Triada gateway in the form of liquefied fossil gas (LNG).

In 2024, Russian gas with a sum of 36.6 TWh reached at least5 54.7% of total gas imports in Greece. This high share is mainly due to Russian pipeline gas imports, as Russian LNG imports were zero for most of 2024, with the exception of the first two months (January-February) and September.

Read here the analyses of the previous months since the start of the EU reduction measures in August 2022.

  1. The data for the comparison have been taken from Eurostat, where the most recent data available are for the month of November.
  2. This period is the average of the April-November intervals from 2017 to 2021.
  3. Cyprus is not included as it has zero gas use
  4. The FSRU Alexandroupolis went into commercial operation in October 2024, but gas imports are appearing in DESFA’s reports since the last two days of March. Therefore, the analysis includes all imports from the Amfitriti gateway.
  5. Actual imports are likely to be higher as they do not include possible imports of Russian LNG in December 2024.