Climate Change and Energy Transition Law: Towards Climate Neutrality

The Spanish Government presents to Parliament the draft Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition, which aims to achieve emissions neutrality by 2050 as the target date.

The draft Climate Change and Energy Transition Law, aimed at decarbonizing the country’s economy and achieving a phased transition to emissions neutrality, was presented to Parliament on May 19th. This draft also comes at a time when the scientific and technological sector observes…Climate action and sustainable recovery are one of the pillars of recovery from the economic crisiscaused by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This idea of ​​investing in decarbonization and the energy transition as a recovery strategy from the Covid-19 crisis is something the Ministry for Ecological Transition supports, referring to a project that, “in a context of economic reactivation in the face of COVID-19, positions Spain to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the ecological transition in terms of modernizing the economy, reindustrialization, job creation, and attracting investment.” And indeed, according to thefigures provided by the executiveThis roadmap would attract more than 200 billion euros of investment over the next ten years, generating between 250,000 and 350,000 net jobs annually and increasing the country’s Gross Domestic Product by 1.8%.

The contribution of this regulatory framework to the country’s wealth becomes one of its main arguments. This is evident in the draft, which states that “in a country with high unemployment rates like Spain, it must be an engine ofcreation of new decent and quality jobs“.

Therefore, the climate neutrality targets, which may be revised upwards, are set at the following main points:

1. Climate neutrality by 2050.
2. A 100% renewable electricity system before the middle of the century.
3. Reduction, by the year 2030, of emissions from the entire Spanish economy.
4. Ensure that 35% of final energy consumption is from renewable sources before the end of the next decade; guaranteeing that 70% of the Spanish electricity system is renewable before 2030.
5. Energy efficiency measures will have to reduce primary energy consumption by at least 35%.

This bill emphasizes the need for an “attractive, predictable, and stable” regulatory framework to attract private sector investment. The government indicates that these investments will materialize in the energy efficiency and savings sectors, renewables, and electricity grids; significant savings in fossil fuel imports, a major burden on Spain’s trade balance, are expected from 2025 onwards.

The requirement to install electric vehicle charging points will cost the gas station sector at least 44 million euros.

Within the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law, one of the most interesting points for the future is the installation of so-called “electric charging stations”, which are fundamental to strengthening the electric vehicle.According to the newspaper ExpansiónThis law, which would affect 10% of Spain’s network of gas stations, would have a “minimal impact” of 44 million euros. According to the draft, the installation of each charging point would cost an average of around €40,000; this would affect approximately 1,105 gas stations nationwide.

This figure would have different impacts depending on the type of electrical installation required and the service offered to users. The measure establishes a minimum power of 50 kW (for fast charging) in direct current. However, different charging points of 50 kW or higher power could be installed, depending on the needs of each service station. For example, super-fast charging stations would reach 100 kW, with an investment cost ranging from €100,000 to €200,000. If 10% of service stations were to install these high-transmission chargers, the impact of investment on the sector would be €111 million.