The Bon Preu group, the leading Catalan capital distribution company, continues with its diversification plan, focused on launching new lines of business. After starting up an energy marketer almost two years ago, it is now entering the renewable energy sector with the installation of solar panels.
“It is a logical consequence of the evolution of the energy market”, explains Pere Baucells, head of service at BonpreuEsclat Energia. Self-consumption with photovoltaic solar energy is having a great growth in Spain after years in which administrative and technical obstacles prevented it. The escalation in the price of electricity that began a year ago has also boosted household self-consumption, which continues to grow despite the fact that the Iberian exception mechanism applied this year has eased the receipt of regulated rate customers and which, despite being on the free market, have an indexed rate. In Catalonia there are currently some 27,000 domestic solar installations, according to data from the Institut Català d'Energia, with exponential growth. If in 2018 420 installations were registered, in 2021 13,000 did so. A similar figure is expected for this year. Bon Preu has seen an opportunity in this niche, which complements its activity as an energy marketer. The group owned by Joan Font, with a turnover of 1,782 million last year, is in charge of the commercial part, while it has partnered with the company SUD Renovables for the technical part, which includes the installation of photovoltaic panels. "The price of the installation can range between 5,000 and 10,000 euros, depending on the number of panels, and the return on investment is achieved after four years", highlights Baucells. Industry sources estimate savings on electricity bills for domestic consumers without batteries at between 30% and 40%.
So far, BonpreuEsclat Energia has carried out 120 photovoltaic self-consumption installations, especially in single-family buildings. The marketer's customers (32,500 in total) with solar panels are paid 100% of the excess energy produced by the installation – they are accumulated and discounted in the months in which consumption exceeds production. The group also promotes self-consumption in its establishments and logistics centers, with 28 facilities that produce up to a third of the energy needed. A way to contribute to sustainability, they underline from the group, and to save money.
