2023-11-23 07:04:17
The energy transition is not only based on renewable generation, it is also essential that energy reaches customers. It is at this point where electrical networks come into play, the circulatory system that allows energy to flow to where it is needed – homes and businesses – and which will be key to achieving six objectives.
1. Spain, an industrial hub
Clean energy at competitive prices and guaranteed in the long term is essential for Spain to become an industrial hub in Europe with all the associated benefits that this implies, such as economic growth and job creation. The country has the sun, air and water necessary to generate competitive energy without CO2 emissions. But a push is required for everything to end up falling into place.
The next step is the electrical networks, necessary to deliver electricity to customers. Large companies will have a powerful incentive to settle in Spain: attractive and protected energy costs for more than a decade. Companies will be able to improve their competitiveness by reducing their energy costs and at the same time accelerate their arrival at the goal of decarbonization. One of the EU’s great missions is to cut greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.
2. Integrate renewables
The latest Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) for 2023-2030, still in draft, establishes that renewable generation power will reach 160 GW at the end of the period. This is more than doubling the current 72 GW clean.
The objectives are for this new capacity to be integrated and the decarbonization objectives to be achieved, since currently 75% of the energy consumed is polluting. And to achieve these goals, infrastructure is needed: distribution networks, which must be deployed in advance and powerful investments.
It is estimated that now, for every euro invested in renewables, it is necessary to invest another in networks. From 2030, the ratio must clearly exceed one euro for every euro allocated to green energy installations, according to the International Energy Agency.
3. Connect the industry
The strategic projects for economic recovery and transformation (PERTE) promoted by the EU are largely based on decarbonization. This is one of the reasons why it is essential for companies to be certain that they will be able to use the renewable generation anticipated by the PNIEC.
A chemical factory that consumes gas and that, to decarbonize, is going to go from an electrical consumption of five megawatts to 100. That is, it is going to multiply it by 20. It cannot wait eight years for the network to be sufficient for it to access to that renewable energy at competitive and stable prices.
Thus, a call is made from the sector to accelerate the deployment of electrical networks with attractive and known remunerations in advance. And up to 70% of the energy transition will be carried out at the distribution level, and not at the transportation level. The latter are those of high voltage networks, which allow energy to leave the power plants.
An intense and early deployment is required, and to achieve this, experts suggest that the current cap, which limits the amount of investment in the distribution network to 0.13% of GDP, must be eliminated.
WindEurope, the European wind association, has issued a warning to sailors: «Europe is not investing enough in its electricity networks. Renewable energies are expanding rapidly, the number of electric vehicles is growing and sales of heat pumps are taking off. But the network is not expanding at the same rate. “Europe needs to increase investments in networks from 40,000 million euros a year to 80,000,” he says.
4. Accelerate self-consumption
More and more people and companies are placing photovoltaic panels in their residences and industrial facilities. Thus, they consume the energy that they produce when they need it, but that they pour into the grid when they are not consuming it. According to data from the Association of Renewable Energy Companies (APPA), around 400,000 homes and companies generate a good part of their electricity thanks to the sun. They are the precursors of a new way of understanding energy and interacting with it. The self-consumption revolution implies a paradigm shift. The structure of the networks has to be renewed, they have to be intelligent and capable of distributing energy from different points of the system.
5. The manna of green energy
Non-polluting generation in Spain many days exceeds 70% of the total, according to data from Red Eléctrica, the system manager. Spain has all the elements to be a world power in clean energy. But this manna made in Spain can only be taken advantage of if the country has a robust distribution network, capable of taking electricity to the last mile. Aware of the potential of electrical networks, Iberdrola has presented an investment plan of 47,000 million euros between 2023 and 2025. Of this amount, 27,000 will be allocated to the activity of electrical networks, with the aim of continuing their deployment, consolidating a solid distribution network and provide it with flexibility, based on an ambitious digitalization process as a key element to respond to the needs of the electrical system.
Iberdrola already operates one of the most important electricity distribution systems in the world; more than 1.3 million kilometers of power lines and more than 4,500 substations, which distribute electricity to more than 35 million people in the world. In Spain alone, i-DE, Iberdrola’s distributor in the country, manages and maintains some 270,000 kilometers of electrical distribution lines in ten autonomous communities and 25 provinces. It has around 98,000 transformation centers in service and more than 1,100 substations to offer service to more than 11 million customers.
6. Export technology
Anticipating the deployment of the electrical grid will allow Spain to become a global reference capable of exporting technology to other countries and accompanying them in their decarbonization. If it is done sooner and the technology is developed, Spain will be able to accompany other countries in their decarbonization development and will become an exporter.
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