Assessment of the impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures on electricity consumption – Evidence from Portugal and Spain

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused unheard-of shifts in socioeconomic norms and interpersonal connections. Governments were compelled to place limitations on the way of life of residents and companies in order to stem the virus' spread in order to deal with this new threat. These led to stay-at-home orders in many nations and reduced industry activities to their bare minimum, which had an immediate impact on the electricity systems.This article investigates the influence of COVID-19 on electricity consumption in Portugal and Spain, with the goal of shedding light on consumption shifts and how these are related to the stringency degree of government-imposed measures, as well as providing an overview of the first post-pandemic data. We cross information between observed electricity consumption data and numerous factors, including the Stringency Index (SI) given by the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT), using an econometric model. We also investigate how government-issued alert levels influenced electricity use.We concluded that, although Spain only felt the repercussions in 2020, Portugal saw a negative and considerable impact from restriction measures and lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. The decision to close schools was found to be the specific step that significantly reduced electricity consumption in both countries.