The industry demands greater access to electricity to be able to develop its projects. Electricity companies currently have requests for access to new capacity that amount to nearly 6,000 MW to which they are finding it difficult to respond due to the need to carry out new investments that are now limited by law.
In order to promote these industrial developments that companies have on the table right now, the sector has proposed to the Government an increase in access capacity for the 64 industrial centers spread throughout Spain.
The intention would be to emulate the measures that France has adopted to boost its industry. The French Government has identified its 50 large industrial hubs in the country to help them in their energy transition through an advance investment plan that will support the industry in this challenge.
Our neighbors’ electricity grid will connect the main French industrial hubs, hosting between 13 and 15 GW of industrial demand (electrifying existing industry and new local net-zero industry) and another 3-5 GW of data centers. Thus, the French plan contemplates an increase in electricity demand of 20 GW.
In the Spanish case, the measure that was already proposed in the previous planning review now returns to the scene for the design of the future 2025-2030 scenario.
actual demand
Sources consulted by this newspaper indicate that an adequate calculation in line with the real growth of demand will be a key aspect to be able to carry out the necessary investments without losing industrial opportunities. However, they regret that the Executive has already lost a first opportunity to facilitate the development of vital projects for some regions and cutting-edge technology by having ruled out this measure in the previous review.
The review of electrical planning – prior to the new Planning that must be approved for the next period 2025-2030 – represented an opportunity to increase the capacity of the electrical network by facilitating the connection of new demand associated with industry decarbonization projects. , as well as the installation of data centers in Spain, one of the great economic opportunities that different autonomous communities hoped to be able to take advantage of in the short term, including Madrid, Aragon or Catalonia.
This Spanish performance contrasts with the approach of the rest of the European economies, which compete with Spain to attract investments associated with the electrification and decarbonization of the economies.
The review of the Spanish Planning had almost 1,000 million from the Recovery Plans for the financing of new connection capacity, but the Government decided to use only 500 million to finance mainly new generation connection projects, with barely any room for new demand only. in the transportation network and limited to some hydrogen projects of large companies.
According to the European energy regulator, ACER, the necessary investment in networks must increase by 82% between 2022 and 2050 to go from the current 32 euros/MWh to around 60 euros/MWh in 2050.
According to Eurelectric, scaling grid investments requires a dual effort. National authorities should implement agreed legislation, such as anticipatory investments, while adapting the regulatory regime to support increased investment. This means removing investment limits, streamlining network permitting and procurement procedures and reducing investment risks to encourage private financing, while opening up public financing through the EU budget.
The Clean Industrial Deal – which is expected to be presented before next March 10 – thus becomes the ideal opportunity to offer incentives for electrification, such as the creation of an electrification bank, accelerated electrification zones and electricity reduction mechanisms. risks for long-term power purchase agreements.In this decade alone, investments worth €584 billion are needed for electricity networks, with a substantial part in distribution networks.
40% of European distribution networks are more than 40 years old. The European Commission considers it essential that the 85 cross-border electricity transport, storage and smart grid projects included in the 2023 list of Projects of Community Interest be quickly implemented.
An investment of 52,360 million until 2030
The Government is preparing to accelerate investment in electricity networks over the coming years. The department headed by Sara Aagesen plans to allocate 52,360 million until 2030. To achieve this amount, the Executive will have to triple the limit on current investment since a significant delay accumulates, of almost 80%, which does not has been invested in the current period due to investment limits.
In the draft of the new Energy Planning, to which ‘elEconomista.es’ has had access, Ecological Transition expresses its willingness to raise these limits but warns that it will maintain vigilance to contain tolls. In this way, the Executive wants to match investment in networks to the real increase in demand to avoid an increase in consumers’ electricity bills. It is expected to generally increase the maximum investment volume as a percentage of GDP to a value that is considered sufficient to meet the expected network needs.
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