According to the Association of Renewable Energy Companies (APPA), the renewable sector has managed to put together all the necessary pieces to know the details of the new renewable power auction, except those that are included in the “confidential clause” of Resolution 4094.
Firstly, the association blames the Ministry of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda to ignore the experience of the renewable sector and bet on an auction that exclusively values the cost for the system regardless of technology, thus creating an erroneous feeling of "technological neutrality".
«By not considering the differences between the characteristics of renewable sources and not establishing specific auctions for each technology, the Ministry forgets the important benefits of a diversified renewable mix, such as security of supply, the manageability of production or the harmonized development of the renewable sector ”, says APPA. «Spain is a privileged country in terms of its renewable resources and this auction system hinders an optimal use of these clean and indigenous energies ”.
According to the president of the association (Miguel Ángel Villarig), the auction is: «of unnecessary complexity, and generates even more uncertainty to the renewable sector by establishing a 'reasonable return' that is not fixed over time«. Vilarig explains that they are not asking for a higher or lower profitability, “what is asked is that it be clarified what that final profitability will be, so that in this way the companies can make the relevant decision and execute the investments with the most complete information possible ”.
Obscurantism and complex auction
After recalling that the moratorium on five years has caused Spain to lose its leadership position In the international renewable sector, Appa explains that the 2017 auction is made up of four texts that have made its monitoring difficult (RD 359, Order ETU / 315 and Resolutions 4094 and 4095). This fact, added to the “confidential clause” of Resolution 4094, gives obscurantism to a particularly complex auction.
The president assures that «If the Ministry chooses only value the price of energy, it should do it in a simpler way. The auction carries out a complex assessment of the investment made, the expected hours of production and the power, something that unnecessarily complicates the process«. “This complex mechanism responds, once again, to the improvisation that sadly we have become accustomed to the renewable sector", Reflects Villarig," choosing the price as the main variable is the power of the legislator but it is not understood what is the reason for complicating the entire auction unnecessarily. "
Remuneration parameters of the auction. Order ETU / 315/2017, Annex I, 1.1
Unclear strategy
The auction also takes place without knowing the next steps of our energy planning, since the 2.000 MW (or 3.000 MW) they do not seem sufficient for Spain to reach its binding targets of the Paris agreement by 2020. According to the estimates of the Spanish Government itself, established in the Energy Planning of October 2015, more than 8.500 MW were necessary to achieve the European objectives of 20-20-20.
In this context, Appa affirms that “it is important to remember that, in 2016, 138,5 GW of new renewable power were installed worldwide. A global increase in new potential of 9% that has been achieved with 23% less investment, since the improvement of the efficiency allows a significant reduction in costs ”.
The association also recalls that Spain has a serious problem of energy dependence that weighs down the country's trade balance. The energy imports of our country reach 72,8% (2015). A dependency 19,4 percentage points higher than the average for the European Union (53,4%). «Renewable energies are the only indigenous sources that can reduce our energy dependence and, at the same time, contribute to achieving decarbonisation objectives ”, APPA points out.
The association concludes the statement by claiming "the need to recognize renewable energies as a strategic pillar for our economy, not face technologies that are necessary to reduce our serious dependence on the outside and stop establishing complex and convoluted mechanisms that condition their correct development.
