The electric companies finally see the sky of open consumption . For the brotherhood of the half-empty glass, they should see an abyss, with the monstrous binomial mutating from the oxymoron entity to the industrial disaster entity.

Consumers will no longer need us!

Those in the half-full glass , on the other hand, see an opportunity: someone will have to sell them, install and maintain the necessary tools to conquer their beloved autonomy .

The sector is giving a radical change. If in October of last year a royal decree opened the spike repealing the reviled tax on the sun , this spring brought another with a whole new regulation that allows the consumer to pour surpluses of the energy generated to the network (with the corresponding compensation), reduce the bureaucracy and opens the ban of the collective modality.

The Spanish self-consumption finally shows its charms ... And the companies have begun courtship. Significantly, now a year ago, Unesa , the largest solera electric employer (sorry for the easy joke), which brought together the big five, changed its name and skin . The new Aelec was born after a cut in spending and, of course, a total commitment to the ecological transition . Already then he admitted that self-consumption was going to play a key role. Its president, Marina Serrano, confirms this to me with an anecdote: "During the day on self-consumption that we organized in February, representatives of renewable energy associations commented that it would have seemed unthinkable to them that something like this would have been done in our association."

DIGITAL SOLUTION

Serrano believes that "self-consumption is an alternative for consumers, especially domestic consumers", and that it also serves to "activate their behavior, one of the great challenges posed by the EU". Although to challenge, the "distribution companies", which will be faced with "the connection of new capacity that, in its entirety, will be connected to their networks. From now on they will have to manage two-way electricity flows in the networks , because consumers can take energy from the network or inject it . " The key lies in "a gradual process of digitalization and in a" new role of the distributor as a facilitator of the exchange of energy in their networks between the different generators ".

When I ask him to what extent he can consolidate the renewable energy market, the president of the employers' association quickly clarifies that the environmental commitment "is for the entire electricity market and tries to end the emissions before 2050 ". Serrano recalls that "Spain starts from a situation of advantage in relation to the average of European countries, with a penetration in renewables of 39%, 15 points higher than the European average." On the other hand, regarding self-consumption, he acknowledges that we lack "a development comparable to that of Germany", although he believes that the regulatory change "will allow us to reach the rest of European countries". If there was such a delay, why have these legal changes not occurred before? "There is regulation for self-consumption in Spain since 2015, although it has been strongly answered from various groups and political forces," replies Serrano, who recalls that the regulatory change has been "driven in part because the courts demand the development of collective self - consumption ."

CATHARSIS

More vehemently shows Lucía Dólera, Project Director of APPA Renovables, association of renewable energy companies, which speaks of " a catharsis for the sector ". The new regulatory framework, he says, "will bring renewable energies to the end user as never before. It goes from having a traditional role as a simple energy receiver to being an active manager, both from the point of view of consumption and generation. , the new legislation expands the possibilities by allowing collective self-consumption of proximity to neighboring communities, so that one can benefit from the management of their energy even if they do not have an appropriate roof for the facilities. "

Dollar also provides succulent advantages for companies in "the option of installing solar panels in the industrial field. Direct savings on the bill allows them to be more competitive, and with self-consumption they emit less greenhouse gases and can show their commitment to the environment environment in a direct way that, far from costing them money, saves it. "

Finally, he believes that the promotion and contribution of public administrations "can also mean many economic and social advantages", in addition to helping them "set an example for society." He even adds, "depending on the social commitment of the institutions, they can make families in situations of energy poverty benefit from the installations made on public buildings."

Dollar believes that the new regulatory framework of self-consumption "sends very positive signals to the sector." The market response "has been immediate and is producing a consolidation effect, as was already seen in the First National Self-Consumption Congress in June." The changes "simply facilitate the implementation of the projects, with which Spain is once again the focus of international interest in the renewable sector ." Thanks to our previous experience and the reduction in costs, "we have very competitive renewable technologies, we have a great renewable resource that few European countries have and we can take advantage of having an industry, in all its value chain, very powerful ".

GOOD WAY

It also shows more blunt Dollar at the time of pointing towards the culprits of the delay. If all this has not happened before, it has been, "no doubt, by political will . Renewable energy goals were not a priority on the public agenda. Steps were taken, such as the call for auctions in 2016 and 2017, but many were ignored. of the demands of the sector when they had no budgetary charge. " Although there is some resentment for "the years of absolute desert of the renewables in Spain due to decisions of the different groups", Dollar warns of a "change of trend across the political spectrum. There is still much to do, such as technical regulation on collective self-consumption, compensation with surpluses and simplified compensation without surpluses between neighbors or storage systems, but we are on the right track. "

Meanwhile, the different companies in the sector do not hide their interest in the new opportunity. Cristina García, responsible for the development of residential photovoltaic solar product of Endesa, believes that "this new panorama is the momentum that was needed." Beyond the technical details, the important thing is that "the residential user perceives that he can now generate his own energy and, in case of having surpluses, receives a remuneration. This, added to the current great concern with the environment, makes is the ideal time for photovoltaics, especially for its ease of integration into the urban environment. " For García, the keys are "the bonus of the surplus energy, the simplification of the different procedures and the modifications of the construction requirements of the installation". In addition, as different installation configurations (next or shared) are possible, "the type of user is extended". The time has come, then, to "equate with countries such as Germany or the United Kingdom, where many citizens already enjoy its installation, even though their territory does not have our advantage in solar irradiation ."

Those who came forward at the time leave with advantage. Garcia believes Endesa is in an optimal position. "It has been developing the residential photovoltaic product since 2016, when the market was completely paralyzed by the sun tax, years that have served to define the product, reduce the costs of an installation and gain experience." And always looking at the positive side, we consider our delay a benefit for the Spanish consumer in the sense that, by imposing the previous regulation a slowdown to the market, "they studied in detail the proposals they received, so that there is increasing knowledge of photovoltaic installations ". In fact, "users are not only interested in initial investment and savings, but they even begin to compare manufacturers and equipment."

ELECTRICITY FACTORIES

Norvento is a renewable technology firm with more than 35 years. His proposal takes advantage of the industrial aspect of the new panorama. Manuel Pinilla, commercial director, is an example of the visionary character that seems to take over the company. "I would like to see that a factory with surpluses can sell electricity to its neighbor, or that several plants of an industrial estate share an installation of electricity generation and storage, that sometimes sell energy to the grid and sometimes buy it, and that also exchange with this other services that the network needs, for example, frequency and voltage regulation ". This holy grail under construction is called "microrred" and makes special sense "at a time when the added value of the centralized operation of the networks is in recession. Opening ourselves to new models , as other advanced countries are already doing, will allow greater penetration of renewables ".

In countries like ours, Pinilla claims, the revolution will come "not because a government says so, but because its economies already justify it to private initiative." And as the movement is demonstrated on foot, Pinilla illustrates it with its corporate headquarters, the Norvento Enerxía Innovation Center. "Technically it is a building for business use, disconnected from the electricity and gas network, and supplied by renewable energy generated in situ, mainly wind and photovoltaic solar." Pinilla is confident that, "with the current cost of renewable generation and storage technologies, and even more so with that predicted by experts, this type of solution will soon be more competitive than supplying electricity from the grid, and let's no longer say in areas remote, where they still use diesel. "

A hopeful future that, however, still has to deal with a tangled present. Aelec and the rest of the network operators, that is, Red Eléctrica Española and the small distributors of Cide and Aseme, commissioned a report to Deloitte about the investments needed to boost self-consumption. The consultancy concluded with a figure of 15,000 million euros between 2017 and 2030. 46% would go to modernize low voltage networks, 35% to substations and medium and high voltage lines and 19% to transport networks. The power companies have requested compensation according to the effort and put pressure on the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) to stretch. Last July, Aelec described the established rate (5.58% before taxes) as "insufficient", since it "does not match" the contribution to which the National Energy and Climate Plan obliges them.

A warm autumn is coming, then. On the understanding between the parties depends the dream of those who, like Garcia, aspire for children to "stop drawing houses with chimneys and start drawing them with photovoltaic modules on the roof."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Spain
  • Germany
  • UK
  • Europe

InnovationGalicia, home of the first pilot project to test 5G practical applications

TurismoEspaña loses 1.3% of international tourists in the United Kingdom and Germany

Immigration The Open Arms and the G-7 summit deepen the tension between PSOE and Podemos