Spain finds itself at an energy crossroads. Even if it is in reality a cross-cutting issue across Europe. The objective is to give greater impetus to renewable technologies – with the aim of reducing polluting emissions – but old traveling companions like natural gas … They are more necessary than ever; and this year this was confirmed in our country after the April blackout, where the “enhanced mode” to maintain the stability of the electricity system brought gas to the fore. The problem is that, at the same time, the infrastructure through which it circulates needs greater economic capacity or, at least, not to lose what it already has.
In this context, the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) must make the decision on the remuneration of the gas networks, both transport and regasification and distribution. This is the money that will be allocated to infrastructure for the 2027-2032 cycle. In the sector, they have sounded the alarm because they fear a further decline in this type of regulated income.
Currently, the system has infrastructure – already prepared to transport renewable gases – that requires adequate regulatory signals and incentives to support the energy transition in a volatile macroeconomic context, with increasing costs and a significant decline in regulated revenues during the current remuneration period.
Essential element
Gas has become an essential part of the Spanish energy network. On the one hand, at the residential level, it currently remains the main alternative for domestic heating, both in terms of climate and thermal water management. Purely electric alternatives, such as the heat pump, have lost some of their vigor. Indeed, as the electricity employers’ association itself Aelec explains in a recent report on housing, even if the downward trend in the installation of this type of equipment has not been as pronounced as in Europe, sales fell last year by 5%. This shows that, despite everything, the confidence of Spanish households in gas boilers remains.
And the same thing happens with electricity generation and industrial processes. For the first question, the blackout showed all its cards. The network manager needed a very notable presence of gas combined cycles in order to provide greater stability to the network. This situation is vital since in the fall Red Eléctrica warned that the system still had some voltage problems and that, therefore, this technology must remain present.
At the industrial level, the need is reproduced. Many businesses currently using gas thermal power cannot be electrified due to the high temperature they require in their processes, which can only be provided by gas or its renewable versions.
Currently, almost 4,000 industries use and need natural gas as it is the most efficient solution for their operations.. Another essential factor at a time of commercial tensions where costs are exploding. Even in this part of the ecological transition, this technology represents a lower volume of emissions than the use of petroleum derivatives.
And the numbers are very stubborn. Natural gas ensures the competitiveness of the national industrial fabric, which contributes 17% to the value of the national GDP. This is why there is so much concern within the sector about the decisions that will be made in the coming months.
A sector in tension
In this context, the Spanish Gas Association (Sedigás) highlights that the drop estimated at 2.495 million euros in revenue from gas activities regulated during the 2021-2026 sex year places the sector in a vulnerable position facing the next 2027-2032 cycle. In this context, the sector as a whole does not want salaries to be higher; The current objective is that the situation does not get worse in the next period.
Among the companies that will be affected by the decision taken, distributors stand out. Nedgia (Naturgy), Gas Redexis, Nortegas, Madrid gas network And Gas Extremaduraamong others; And Enagas as a carrier.
Sector sources explain to ABC that the loss of economic capacity is found at the confluence of various factors. On the one hand, the unfavorable macroeconomic development – defined by a marked inflationary trend and a sustained increase in financial costs –; on the other, a significant drop in regulated remuneration, resulting from actual reductions greater than those initially planned by the CNMC.
million euros
The gas sector, during the previous earnings period, experienced a very significant economic decline. Now they don’t ask for it anymore, they just don’t want to lose.
From the sector they want to highlight the remarks made in a public forum by the president of the CNMC, Cani Fernández, who emphasized that “gas will remain relevant for a long timeLet’s not be mistaken. And it will be both as fuel and as raw material. This, they suggest from the sector, is an implicit recognition of the strategic role of gas and that is why they hope that the remuneration proposal for the activities of distribution, transport and LNG plants will be reasonable.
However, in the gas sector there is a certain climate of agitation, even if they do not want to convey it publicly, about the impact that the remuneration granted to these infrastructures can have on the electricity side. The message that Spain needs to increase its electricity consumption may influence some measures taken, although they believe this should not be the case since the methodologies are similar. But with these questions, you never know what might happen.
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