Diego Rodríguez Rodríguez, professor at the Complutense University: "Nobody thinks that today we can live only from renewables"

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Between 2013 and 2017,

(1967, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), held the position of director of the National Commission of Markets and Competition.

For some time now, his collaboration with the different government portfolios has also led him to participate in the Commission of experts on energy transition scenarios.

Now, from the Department of Applied Economics, Structure and History of the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the Complutense University of Madrid, he tries to make his students aware of the importance of acting sustainably and setting an example for those who do not.

The war in Ukraine has once again put energy saving measures in the mouth of the Government.

Are we going to drive at 100 km/h this summer? This was a measure that was already raised in the previous crisis and I don't know if it is on the table, but it would only affect consumption derived from oil and not gas.

I think that the important thing in this regard is to check whether the measure once had significant effects;

we must evaluate with a high degree of precision the effectiveness that it may have.

And to wear a coat at home next year? Energy saving measures by households can contribute to a reduction in gas consumption.

However, it is one thing for it to be proposed by public authorities and another for citizens to be aware of and reduce their consumption.

Another thing is that cuts occur, then we would have to ration gas.

And can this situation occur? No one, today, can firmly assert whether it will occur or not, so it is plausible.

A few months ago we would have said that it was not on the table, but with the cuts that some countries have experienced (Bulgaria, Poland...) this is a possibility with a relatively high degree of probability. The former Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism turned to you for advice, what were your most outstanding tasks? I was collaborating in the field of the commission of experts on the energy transition scenario, it was a commission that was made to us in 2017 to contribute our vision on the changes that are should be introduced from the regulatory point of view to face the process of ecological transition with certain guarantees. They say that legalizing the practices of

in Spain we would have gas to soften the situationI consider that the restrictions related to the use of this modality should be maintained.

We do not know how much it can contribute in real terms, it may be a very small amount and have a significant environmental cost, I do not think it is on the table. What do you think of the self-consumption boom? It is very important that we are attentive to the possible barriers to deployment to occur.

Regulation should be treated in a neutral way in relation to centralized generation.

It would be interesting to intensify its requirement in newly built buildings, some countries are already considering it. Is it going to be encouraged to put plates? I have a house in a neighborhood community, it is currently being discussed.

You have to do numbers.

How do you explain to university students that they must maintain sustainable behavior while countries like China set pollution records? What I explain to my students is that we Europeans have a commitment to achieve a decarbonized economy and we must serve as a reference for the rest of the international community, also for countries such as India or China.

I try to make them see how the private actions of each one can have positive effects on society as a whole. The day Europe is green there will still be five continents that will not be.

Is this effort going to be of any use? There is global progress towards decarbonization, but this does not mean that all areas of the world do so at the same speed, it is for development reasons.

Europe has an advantage

because its energy consumption is going to be reduced.

The picture is different in countries like India, where its energy requirement is still increasing;

these countries present a greater difficulty compared to the European Union.

This does not prevent the EU from assuming its responsibility, leading this process has advantages. Is there a high level of competition in the Spanish electricity sector? It has fallen and is going to fall very rapidly in the coming years.

The competition has been improving over time: when we look at the concentration indicators, they have fallen significantly.

It is a capital-intensive sector that has less concentration than other intensive sectors such as telecommunications.

What is most worrying is the level of marketing competition, which has also improved but has fallen at a slower pace.

What do you think of the gas intervention that the Government has designed? I share the opinion of the European regulator, the way of acting is at the limit of acceptability.

Even so, I understand that it is a temporary procedure and for an extraordinary situation.

I hope that when the subsidy to be paid to Spanish consumers with a differentiated contract is resolved, we will not have an unpleasant surprise. Europe says that the regulated tariff must be reformed. I also believe that the regulated tariff has contributed negatively to the situation in Spain .

It introduces good incentives in a normal context, but outside of this it generates a strong concern about the movement in the daily market.

We have to stabilize it, index part of it to futures contracts, although now is not the best time.

The EU seems to have set it as a condition and I understand that the Government will propose a partial indexation of the regulated rate to future contracts. You speak in your academic articles about problems linked to the nuclear shutdown plan.

Should its closing date be extended? There is no doubt that the nuclear park is going to be closed in the future, what must be discussed is the optimal closing path.

The expectations that existed may have changed, either to reinforce the closure or to advise a greater gradation. And can we live only from renewables? Technically the answer is very easy, nobody thinks that today we can live only from renewables.

We need accompanying energy, such as thermal or gas.

Can we function today?

No. Can we function in 2045?

Let's hope so.

Does Spain have a competitive advantage in green energy? Objectively it does: the conditions of hours of sun and wind are very favourable.

In addition, we have land availability.

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