Renewable energy will be key for the Spanish electro-intensive industry.

The new Electro-Intensive Consumer Statute, in draft phase, will seek to incentivize the consumption of renewable energy by the electro-intensive industry

The Spanish Government is in the middle of drafting the new Electro-Intensive Consumer Statute, which will affect Spanish heavy industry and will be created with a guarantee fund, called FERGEI, which will seek to incentivize the purchase and sale of renewable energy between electricity companies and large consumers such as the country’s electro-intensive industry.

As reported by several specialized portals, such as PV-Magazine or Ileketro, this draft law would be provided with a guarantee fund of 200 million euros in order to promote medium and long-term energy purchase agreements, also known as PPAs, and, in turn, promote the reduction of energy costs for these large consumers, allowing a gain in competitiveness in the industrial sector. These same sources confirm that this fund would cover a maximum of three years and 600 million euros, with the General State Budget then putting it in black and white regarding the possible expandable amount for this new resource for the industry.

This new law, whose approval deadline is set for February 29, does not seem to differentiate between the two types of consumers it would affect: the electro-intensive industry and the hyper-electro-intensive industry. The definition of an electro-intensive user is that of a consumer whose consumption exceeds 40 GWh per year, while their consumption in the hours corresponding to tariff period 6 is equivalent to at least 50% of the total energy consumed.

Renewable energy now accounts for half of Spain’s electricity generation capacity

A new year is beginning in terms of energy and Spain is doing so by closing the door on 2019 in which practically half of its electricity generation capacity, 49.3%, corresponds to renewable energy sources. This figure, which translates to 108,000 megawatts (MW), is reached after a year in which renewables had 5,000 new green MW, a trend that seems set to continue in 2020.