The Spanish Wind Energy Association (AEE) appreciates the approval of the Royal Decree Law by the Council of Ministers. It is an important step in the process of activating the renewable sector as a lever for economic growth throughout the Spanish territory.
AEE valuations on the RDL 23/2020 by which measures are approved to promote renewable energies and promote economic recovery
• The RDL is a necessary boost to take advantage of the potential of the wind sector in its contribution to the revival of the economy, its industrial driving effect on other sectors, its leadership in innovation and the creation of quality employment.
• It is a tool to channel economic activity into the territories of the emptied Spain and give visibility to the industrial activity of the wind energy sector with its more than 200 factories and 24,000 jobs.
• It is an instrument that clarifies the rules of the game in such important aspects as the design of auctions, the integration of renewables and their access and connection, as well as the simplification of administrative procedures.
Madrid, 24th of June 2020.– The Spanish Wind Energy Association (AEE) appreciates the approval of the Royal Decree Law by the Council of Ministers. It is an important step in the process of activating the renewable sector as a lever for economic growth throughout the Spanish territory.
For Juan Virgilio Márquez, CEO of AEE: “The RDL comes to satisfy many of the requests that AEE, on behalf of the wind sector, has been requesting for years to value the potential of wind energy for Spanish society, together with its industrial and innovative capacity, a global benchmark. The collaboration and effort of the sector has had positive results and has materialized partially with the approval of the RDL. If the draft Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition establishes decarbonisation objectives in the medium and long term, this RDL allows the first steps to be taken towards achieving the objectives”.
In this RDL, a new design of renewable energy auctions is enabled in line with the auctions of our EU partners and betting on the model that AEE has been defending since the 2016 and 2017 auctions were held. The RDL introduces a new design of auctions in which the price of the energy of the new renewable installations will be determined, which will facilitate the financing of the installations and will give security to investors. In auctions, according to the text, “different generation technologies can be distinguished based on their technical characteristics, levels of manageability, location criteria, technological maturity and those others that guarantee the transition to a decarbonised economy”. This distinction between technologies highlights the contribution that each of them has to make to the decarbonisation of energy and to the operation of the electrical system. In addition, the enabling of technology auctions is a favorable first step in the strategy to promote offshore wind power, which is currently undergoing prior public consultation.
Other noteworthy content of the RDL refers to access permits and connection to the electricity grid, establishing a framework that allows companies committed to advancing the PNIEC’s renewable objectives to undertake their investments, facilitating rationality in the processing of facilities.
The RDL also introduces elements as innovative as necessary to optimize the use of the great renewable resources available in our country, such as the storage of electricity, the hybridization of renewable technologies, or the overpowering of facilities in order to make better use of existing electrical networks.
In addition, the RDL does not forget the fundamental role that public administrations have in the materialization of renewable installations and the benefits that these entail for society. Improvements in administrative processing, such as the possibility of processing several permits in parallel, the introduction of positive administrative silence in some procedures, the definition of the concept of “substantial modification” and the establishment of short deadlines, facilitate the implementation of renewable installations foreseen in the PNIEC and that will contribute significantly to the economic reactivation throughout the territory. Not forgetting the introduction of the figure of regulatory test benches, or “regulatory sandboxes”, which will allow the introduction of novelties, exceptions or regulatory safeguards that help facilitate research and innovation in the field of the electricity sector. It is important to highlight that the RDL also establishes the possibility of granting a remuneration regime to experimental facilities, something that AEE has been defending through the REOLTEC technological platform.
The wind energy sector in Spain, as a strategic sector for the economy, which contributes 0.35% of GDP and employs 24,000 people, which has 227 factories and 100% of the value chain in our territory, is responsible for collaborate for the revival of the economy. Wind energy and its value chain have multiple benefits that make it important and urgent to bet on its activity as one of the vehicles to revive the economy.
This RDL is a necessary milestone to activate the opportunities for economic reactivation that it can mean for Spain to bet quickly on new renewable installations, which especially in the case of wind farms, has a tractor effect on the entire territory on the industrial value chain that it has the sector in our country, as well as the materials and construction industry that are necessary for its materialization; and, in addition, they generate new economic income at the local level, particularly in the regions of emptied Spain.
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