Renewable energy industry warns a crisis is coming collapse in the installation of new facilities. There is a legal deadline for hundreds (around a thousand) of green projects to be operational by mid-2025 and not lose their permit to connect to the electricity grid.
And renewable energy employers are warning that the majority of projects will comply with this temporary limit due to the congestion that will result from the entire industry trying to recruit suppliers (the same suppliers) to build the avalanche of new installations in such a short time. period. . Therefore, the associations predict that they will need at least two more years to prevent the majority of the projects from falling through.
HE The government has already granted two extensions To facilitate compliance with the entire administrative permit process, which takes approximately five years. In total, 15 months of assistance was approved to meet the requirements of some of the temporal milestones of the entire process (9 months for obtaining the environmental impact statement and an additional 6 months for the construction permit). The executive later vindicated them due to the difficulties posed by the covid pandemic and the overflow of public administrations (especially autonomous communities) to review and approve all submitted applications.
Faced with intensifying pressure from the industry to obtain a new moratorium on the construction of new renewable energy plants, the current Government is limiting itself to the following: delaying companies and resisting granting new extensions for now even envisioning being willing to do so in the future.
“Public administrations should not be a bottleneck” [en el desarrollo de las renovables]But these are not the most important ones.” Vice President and Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera at the opening of the annual forum Spanish Photovoltaic Association (UNEF)The largest employer in the solar energy industry. “Administrative procedures are not the only limiting factor for solar power plants, nor are they the most important,” he emphasized.
Is it urgent or not?
The administration also approved the last of the extensions granted last June. macro decree The broom at the end of the parliament before the 23J elections. The renewable energy sector complained that it was given only another six months to obtain construction permits (in most cases until next January) and that the existing extension of time to complete the construction of the plants was not taken advantage of. They will become operational in July 2025.
The Ministry of Ecological Transition later argued that the extension of administrative deadlines ending in mid-2025 was not possible to be included in the royal general decree because it could not be justified as an urgent measure. Since the government is in office until an investment bears fruit, its administrative capacity is now limited. The executive branch has little power to maneuver to introduce new legislation if extreme need and urgency cannot be justified, and even more so when a royal decree is required, as in the case of the extension.
“There are projects that probably need more time,” Vice President Ribera said this Wednesday, but did not assume that the general extension of deadlines would be approved. The Minister of Ecological Transition stated that the problem of delay in the processes is not only due to administrative congestion, and pointed out that companies should receive the support of the citizens in the regions where they are located. Ribera argued that companies make some kind of profit Proving “social license”, support of regions, “good neighbors around” Where they are established in the design and implementation of their projects.
Two more years of grace
Photovoltaics employer UNEF is expressly requesting a further two-year extension for the construction of projects in the pipeline; This will extend most future installations from 2025 to mid-2027 to avoid a bottleneck in construction suppliers, equipment and transport…
Wind Cooperation (AEE) He is still working with his partners to finalize a proposal to be presented to the government. But options being considered internally so far include requesting a blanket extension of two or more years for all projects, or extending deadlines through an annual quota system for projects to be signed off depending on when they’re ready. It will be operational in 2025, 2026, 2027 and even later.
In addition to the saturation of supply chains, the industry warns that doubts about whether they can meet project deadlines are making it difficult to obtain the necessary financing from banks. Small and medium-sized energy groups that do not have sufficient financial strength to cover the necessary investments with their own capital face the risk of not being able to provide future financing.
Not all renewable companies advocate extending deadlines. “We have already been flexible and this has been justified by the pandemic and the lack of resources of public administrations. Now the 2025 deadline is approaching, but we already knew this since 2020. We might want more flexibility, but talking about “years” seems out of focus to me,” J said.Ulio Castro, CEO iberdrola RenewableAt the UNEF forum. “Deadlines must be met. There are companies that give up on projects thinking that they will not be able to complete five years. “Flexibility, yes, but coffee is not for everyone,” he added. Rocío Sicre, managing director of EDPR Spain.
Other sources in the renewable sector, on the contrary, point out that many well-prepared projects have not only managed to get through all the administrative stages, but are even already under construction, and complain that other poorly designed projects or construction are bound to be completed. The extensions granted should ensure that the coveted access to the electricity grid is ‘avoided’.
The coming green flood
Last January, projects with a total power of 58,000 megawatts (MW) received the mandatory environmental impact statement (DIA) to move forward with their plans. This was just one of the bureaucratic steps that energy companies had to go through before getting the plants up and running. After receiving the environmental declaration, the vast majority of projects under construction received preliminary administrative permission from the central government or autonomous communities before April 25, and then had to obtain an administrative construction permit before July 25 (now extended until the end of January).
15,000 MW of projects had already received this final permit before the extension was approved, but the remaining 43,000 MW suffered a decline due to bureaucratic logjams and in many cases requiring changes to the project or new requirements that made this impossible. meet the deadline. In addition to these 43,000 MW power plants that are about to expire, 10,000 MW power plants that have more time and have to get permission later will also be able to benefit from the 6-month extension. Thousand projects in total A total of 68,000 MW of construction work needs to be carried out in the coming years.
In June, the Government of Pedro Sánchez launched the process of updating the National Integrated Plan for Energy and Climate (PNIEC), the country’s green roadmap to 2030, triggering targets for massive deployment of clean energy and reducing emissions towards decarbonization. Economy.
The draft of the new version throws out targets for more renewable energy (much more wind energy, more photovoltaics, more green hydrogen, more electricity storage…), with 56% more additional green energy than the current plan approved three years ago. In practice, the new target means that existing green power must be increased by 85,000 MW. The renewables sector warns that to achieve the new PNIEC’s ambitious target for new renewables, it is essential to avoid the collapse of the 68,000 MW of new green energy currently under construction.