The third vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, warned future investors in electricity networks in Spain this Wednesday not to expect remunerations much above the current ones for the coming years, although she has left the door open to seek a balance as long as it does not harm consumers.
During her speech before the main managers and investors present at the Spain Investor Day that is being held this Wednesday in Madrid, the minister has been forceful regarding the Government's position regarding one of the most strategic areas for progress in the reform of the electricity market.
Investment in networks to provide access to the avalanche of renewable energy that should arrive in the coming years based on the forecasts of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) is currently in the focus of investors of the energy sector which, as confirmed by Ribera, demand that the Government increase the current ceiling linked to GDP.
Although in his speech Ribera told them not to expect such an increase, in a subsequent group with journalists he clarified that the amounts contemplated in the Transformation and Resilience Plan financed with European funds already contemplate an investment of 1,000 million for the update. of electrical networks and 550 million in digitalization. “Amounts that are already higher than the limit and give a signal of the Government's intentions,” noted the vice president.
“There may be a slight improvement in remuneration,” he commented, while recalling that the Government's objective is to apply the same criterion that has been applied since the outbreak of the energy crisis and is to “maintain a balance of the costs of that transition between companies and consumers, both families and industrialists.”
Ribera recalled that a direct increase in income from investment in networks would mean an increase in consumers' bills because the amount of system charges would increase. “We are risking the success of the energy transition in the next 5 or 7 years and it will not be carried out if consumers are not taken into account,” he insisted.
The minister issued this warning before knowing whether the omnibus decree will finally pass Congress' approval this afternoon, although she warned that the reforms she proposes are not focused only on the electrical transformation that the Spanish economy must address but also has a heavy burden of aid. to customers. "Its approval is, furthermore, essential to collect the pending European funds," the minister warned just one hours before the first strategic vote of the new Executive.
