Barely 24 hours after the Government published the draft of the new National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), few in the sector acknowledged having carefully read the more than 600 pages that the document contains. The electricity sector questioned whether the objectives could be achieved, while the gas sector demands more ambition with biomethane.
The first sensations that were heard this Thursday among the managers of the renewable energy sector, who shared breakfast, conferences and lunch at the Annual Wind Power Congress, were bittersweet.
“The document increases the ambition in terms of renewable energy objectives and is aligned with the guidelines set by the European Union. In that sense, we see it as positive,” said Paloma Sevilla, general director of Aelec, the employers’ association that represents the large companies in the electricity sector that declined to make an individual assessment.
This first assessment is followed by a “but”. “We miss in the document a reflection on the capacity of the network and a breakdown of the specific measures that must be implemented to ensure the integration of all this capacity in the system”, admits Sevilla.
Those same doubts grip the managers responsible for wind energy in the large Spanish electricity companies. “The objectives of the plan are very difficult to meet if the entire administrative processing structure is not reformed,” said Marta Fernández, Acciona’s director of business development in Spain.
“These are such ambitious objectives in all renewables that undermine the credibility of the commitment to Europe that this document requires. It does not specify anything about how storage will be advanced and completely forgets the investment in networks to accommodate all that capacity ”, they lament from a large company that asks not to be identified.
In the gas sector, satisfaction was expressed for the promotion of green hydrogen and the maintenance of all the current capacity of the combined cycles as “unequivocal proof of the fundamental role that this technology will continue to play in the 2030 horizon”, as highlighted by sources from the gas employers, Sedigás. But at the same time, these sources criticize the Government for “lacking the necessary ambition to take advantage of the full potential of real biomethane production in Spain.”
The plan includes a goal of 20 TWh per year. “The contribution of biomethane to replace the demand for gas is barely 2%, when the objective set by the European Union is 10% in general and 13% for Spain”, they explain from Sedigas where they raise the production potential to 163 TWh, sufficient volume to decarbonize 45% of the national demand for natural gas.
Gas and electric companies are already working to present the pertinent allegations before September 4. Then, the future government and the energy companies will have another year to outline and adjust the document to reality.
