The continuous delays that are delaying the implementation of the independent aggregator in the Spanish electricity system seem to have their days numbered. Until the beginning of summer, the entire process related to the aggregation was still extremely slow, but since the summer until now there has been an acceleration as different public consultations have been opened. proposals to achieve the regulatory development of the figure of the independent aggregator. This new agent will make it possible to efficiently manage flexibility and allow demand to participate in the energy market in a growing environment of renewable integration.
On the one hand there is the draft Royal Decree on the Supply and Contracting of electrical energy of the Ministry of Ecological Transition (MITECO), which includes the regulatory framework of the independent aggregator and which will serve to complete the transposition of Directive 2019/944 of the European Parliament and the Council where this figure was already introduced, in the same way that it was also recognized in Law 24/2013 of the Spanish Electricity Sector.
On the other hand, there are the proposals to modify the CNMC circulars on electricity transportation and distribution tolls and on the remuneration of electricity distribution activity for the regulatory period 2026-2031, as well as the one that regulates the operation of the wholesale electricity marketin which everything related to demand flexibility, demand aggregation, independent aggregator and local flexibility markets is taken into account. The expected adoption date for all of them is October 2025.along with the beginning of the new remuneration period in 2026.
Furthermore, just a few days ago, the Official State Gazette (BOE) published the Circular 1/2024, which regulates the process of access and connection of demand facilities to electric energy transportation and distribution networkswhose entry into force will allow, among other issues, that some demand facilities can benefit from flexible access, which will bring greater flexibility in the supply and optimization of the use of existing networks.
“This last rule is very interesting if we take into account that In Spain there are not enough connection points and capacity for all the demand that is to be incorporatedwhether for data centers, for the electrification of industrial processes or for the new industry that we could be attracting thanks to having sun and renewables. This shows the importance of demand flexibility“, not so much in how to participate in the market, but in terms of how the existing capacity of the network can be optimized and the capacity to plan for the future,” he tells elEconomista.es. Alicia Carrasco, executive director of the ENTRA Aggregation and Flexibility association and CEO_of olivoENERGY.
The new Circular for access to the demand, adds Carrasco, “in addition to applying to new figures such as Closed storage facilities and distribution networkspromoting its integration into the electrical system, also facilitates the development of self-consumption and recharging of electric vehicles“.
“What is being defined now at the European level,” says Carrasco, “is the Demand Response Network Code (Network Code on Demand Response), a document that the European Network of Transmission Network Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) and the European Entity of Distribution Network Operators (EU DSO Entity) jointly presented to the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) last May, and which will be key to ensuring the integration of demand-side flexibility resources into the energy system“. ACER has put the document out for public consultation (which ends on October 31), the revised text of which will be presented to the European Commission in March 2025.
Capacity and flexibility
From ENTRA they are also committed to the creation of local flexibility marketswhich are those that provide a solution to congestion problems in distribution networks, while providing an incentive to users within these same networks to optimize their investments in the management of electricity generation and consumption devices. These types of markets are already a reality in some EU countries. For its part, OMIE He is working on various projects to be able to launch them in our country. In this regard, has developed two demonstrator platforms (long-term and short-term) that meet the operating conditions to be able to test different use cases based on the needs of the different projects.
Likewise, the association advocates the creation of a capacity market through a competitive auction mechanismwhich will ensure the stability of the national electrical system. Spain already submitted a detailed plan to Brussels at the end of last year that argued for the adoption of this mechanism. The response from the European Commission came last March, with the imposition of a series of obligations in energy matters. If Spain meets these requirements, the approval of the European mechanism could arrive before the end of the year, allowing its implementation at the national level in early 2025 and the realization of the first capacity auction in the first half of next year.
“All this is just the tip of the iceberg,” says the director of ENTRA. “The regulatory moment is, if not difficult, at least complex, but it will move forward,” adds Carrasco. “What we are seeing – he continues – is that there is technology available, there are consumers who are flexible and that thanks to the flexible connection they will be more interested in knowing its flexibility, because They will benefit not only from cost savings, but also from being able to increase their capacity“.
In the future, Carrasco points out, “the electricity cost will not only be the purchase of energy, but also the networks and payment for balance services, including technical restrictions, which we are seeing increasingly more expensive. So if you, as a consumer, can avoid consuming not only when electricity is expensive, but when balancing services are more expensive, or when the toll is more expensive, in the end all this will have a benefit not only for you. , but also for the electrical system”.
From ENTER too they encourage all resources related to behind the meter energy storage can participate competitively and without limitations in all existing and future balance markets and services – including the primary service as is already the case in other countries -, the time they ask that the consumers that have less than 1 MW of power connected to one of their CUPS (electrical supply points) can participate, in an aggregate manner, in the Active Demand Response Service (SRAD).), where the independent aggregator cannot yet participate as the regulatory part has not been defined.
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