Mallorcan Joan Groizard (Palma, 1989) has been heading the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) since 2019. An organization that was born in the eighties of the last century and for years seemed like a preacher of energy saving and the commitment to clean energy in the middle of a desert in which only a few paid attention to it. The energy war unleashed by Putin has changed everything. Groizard is the head technician of the Minister of Ecological Transition and his role has been key in the design of the Government's contingency plan in the face of the energy crisis.
But neither the 125 employees of the IDAE nor its director forget that this body always has its high beams on, and beyond the short and medium-term measures that they urgently have to implement, they are already working on the design of other that allow Spain to increase its energy self-sufficiency as much as possible in the future.
If you'd like, we'll start by putting on those high beams. What remains to be included among those measures that are missing from the contingency plan?
The most relevant are already on the table. We are going to set up a platform so that large companies can send us the savings plans that they are going to set up as an example for the rest of society. We are going to launch a powerful communication campaign with recommendations and saving measures.
In the industrial field, we are going to publish a map of Spain that identifies the areas with the greatest demand for thermal adaptation, both hot and cold, to promote this type of energy. But if this current situation has made something clear, it is that depending on energy from abroad is a risk that we must mitigate.
How are you going to do?
The sun and the wind won't be taken away by any border closures, but what about the facility components we need to harness them? Spain manufactures 90% of the materials needed to run a wind farm. In photovoltaics, somewhat less, 65%, but in the case of panels, most are manufactured abroad. That this stops being like this is one of our bets. For this reason, we are going to approve an aid package of 1,000 million euros to consolidate the national value chain of renewables with special emphasis on photovoltaics. Also in hydrogen and in storage.
Will this help be part of the recovery plan?
No, they are 1,000 million additional to the aid contained in that plan.
I put low beams again. The contingency plan relies part of its success on the reduction of gas consumption of up to 14% in the plans approved by the public administrations. Do you fully trust the contribution of all or are there doubts with some?
We have presented a very powerful plan that responds to an energy emergency situation that, luckily, in Spain does not imply risks of supply cuts, but we need to save on consumption. They are non-coercive, accompanying measures that do not have a regressive effect on the economy. And they are like that because all the public administrations asked for it.
What I hope and wish with all my heart is that the position of public administrations is not a dissuasive tactic or an excuse for doing nothing. At the sectoral conference, the autonomous communities asked us for a generic commitment and assured that later they, all of them, will send their measures until December 1. I am optimistic, I hope they comply.
Criticisms have rained down regarding the “miserliness” in the extension of the distance at which the energy produced with self-consumption is allowed to be shared. What is the reason for this prudence?
With the 500 meters that were allowed, the installed power for self-consumption has doubled in the last year. It cannot be said that Spain and the Spanish are not betting on this modality. We have extended the installations on the roofs to one kilometer because we are aware that in Spain there are many homes in communities and alternatives are needed.
For now we want to promote installations on urban roofs, we will need rustic land. But we have to consolidate policies and go step by step.
Is lowering VAT on solar panels ruled out?
The sector is stressed to such an extent that it cannot respond to so much demand. The installation companies assure that more than 50,000 professionals are needed to cover the current demand on time. Our challenge now is to make this sector attractive with stable jobs and adequate remuneration.
The consumer gets the numbers. Look, in Catalonia alone, aid has been requested to subsidize these self-consumption facilities worth 300 million euros. It is a third of the 900 million that there is for all of Spain.
Does the industry not have to be encouraged more?
Industry demand is already starting to grow exponentially as well. They have realized that there are alternatives to not depend on fossil fuels in a safe way, and that also allows saving. For example, in Catalonia the first batch of aid for thermal installations that replace gas has already been exhausted. Now we are already working with the Institut Català d'Energia to double the budget.
