the following: Over the period 2007 to 2035, natural-gas-fired electricity generation
is expected to increase by 2.1 % per year. Generation of natural gas worldwide is
expected to increase from 3.9 trillion kWh in 2007 to 6.8 trillion kWh in 2035; this
represents an increase of 74.4 %, but the total amount of electricity generated from
natural gas continues to be less than one-half the total for coal, even in 2035.
According to the IEO (2011) report, the natural gas share of global electricity
generation is expected to grow from 22 % in 2008 to 24 % in 2035.
Natural gas is the second fastest-growing source of power generation after
renewables in the outlook for OECD Europe, increasing at an average rate of 1.3 %
per year from 2007 to 2035, which is 0.8 % lower than the expected increase at
world level. Although growth still is strong, considering that total electricity
demand increases by only 1.1 % per year, it is slower than the 2.1 % annual
increase projected for natural-gas-fired generation in previous reports. The difference results primarily from revised growth projections for the region’s nuclear
power and, to a lesser extent, renewable generation.
Electricity produced from natural gas in 2008, 2009 and 2011
| Electricity production from natural gas in billion kWh in 2008 | Electricity production from natural gas in billion kWh in 2009 | Electricity Production from natural gas in billion kWh in 2011 | |
| Eleven European countries | 372.5 | 346 | 260.73 |
| Austria | 10.9 | 12 | 11.67 |
| Belgium | 23 | 26.8 | 23.8 |
| Czech Republic | 4.3 | 4.1 | 1.42 |
| France | 14.6 | 24 | 20.42 |
| Greece | 13.3 | 9.4 | 8.5 |
| Italy | 174.5 | 143.1 | 142.06 |
| Luxembourg | 2.4 | 2.8 | 2.34 |
| Poland | 3.9 | 3.9 | 5.81 |
| Portugal | 14.4 | 13.9 | 23.8 |
| Slovakia | 1.7 | 1.6 | 2.2 |
| Spain | 109.6 | 104.5 | 84.52 |
Source: Entsoe data
According to Table,
in 2011 Italy was the country with the highest participation of natural
gas in the electricity generation in its energy mix within the
European region, followed by Spain, Portugal and Belgium. It is expected that the
use of natural gas in these group of European countries will suffer no significant
changes during the coming years. The participation of natural gas in electricity
generation in other European countries is very small.
It is important to highlight that natural-gas-fired-combined-cycle technology is
an attractive choice for new gas-fired power plants to be built in the future because
of its fuel efficiency, operating flexibility (it can be brought online in minutes rather
than the hours it takes for coal-fired power plants and some others generating power
plants), relatively short planning and construction times, relatively low emissions,
and relatively low capital costs.
Source: Electrical Energy Generation in Europe book