25% of Spanish renewable generation sold abroad
Spain tripled its renewable electricity exports last year to 29,549 GWh, equivalent to 25% of the country’s green electricity – and 10% of all electricity – according to the latest figures from the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC). With the demand for clean energy soaring in Europe, the additional price per certified MWh can be around the euro per MWh.
28/05/2019
Economiadigital.es
The need to implement a model of sustainable development is beginning to penetrate the population ecologists have won 69 seats in the European Parliament and one of the elements that is most appreciated, for its simplicity, is the consumption of 100% certified renewable energy.
In addition, European regulations encourage the consumption of electricity from renewable sources, recommending it as good administrative practice. In Spain, following these guidelines, the Government has included it as one of the star measures of the Ecological Contracting Plan and has established a growing percentage of renewable consumption in the Administration, from 20% in 2020 to 50% in 2025%.
That is why it is not surprising that there is a proliferation of merchants who offer 100% renewable electricity. In Spain this type of offers already exceed 40% of the total there are more than two million consumers with them and in Europe happens the same; for example, in the United Kingdom 30% of the offers were labelled as green in June 2018, compared to only 6% in June 2016.
System at European level
The system of certification, or labelling of electricity, has been in place since 2007 in Spain. This is carried out by the CNMC, and there is an entity, the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB), which acts on a continental scale as a platform for exchanging the corresponding certifications, known as Guarantees of Origin; each of these Guarantees is equivalent to 1 MWh of electricity generated with renewables or high-efficiency cogeneration.
The certified electricity already has an additional economic value; the trading companies must obtain the Guarantees from the generators and, depending on the scarcity in the market, in the EU they can pay more than 1 euro per Guarantee, under penalty of losing the one hundred percent renewable distinction.
In Spain, prices are more moderate and are around 0.4 euros per MWh, although it is more common for clean marketers to also act as market agents for renewable generators in order to obtain guarantees directly.
According to the regulations, the collection of this surcharge is incompatible with the receipt of a specific premium or remuneration, which is why, in Spain, the majority of the renewable generation that obtains it is hydroelectric, although there are more and more wind installations that, due to their age, have ceased to receive aid and can be charged for transferring the Guarantee.
In Spain, 81% of renewable generation in 2018 was certified and 28.6% was exported.
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