{"id":2071,"date":"2021-08-23T08:52:14","date_gmt":"2021-08-23T08:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fundacioncanal.com\/blog\/?p=2071"},"modified":"2025-09-04T07:07:40","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T07:07:40","slug":"renewables-and-energy-dependency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fundacioncanal.com\/blog\/en\/renewables-and-energy-dependency\/","title":{"rendered":"Renewables and Energy Dependency"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Estimated reading time: 3,38 minutes) <\/em>\u2013  Audio version of article available<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increased\ninstalled capacity for renewable technologies in Spain is essential if we wish\nto achieve independence from foreign energy sources. This situation is\nstructural and affects us both in terms of international raw fossil material\nmarkets and their impact on prices, and in terms of supply security, since we\ndepend on countries located in areas of heightened geopolitical interest. More\nthan anything, this situation affects us in terms of importation volumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our energy dependence has decreased over the years, as\nwe decarbonise and move toward an energy transition. When we began rolling out\nrenewables in our region, the maximum energy dependence rate that we reached in\n2008, at 81.3%, was reduced by 2012 and 2013 to 70.2%. We can see this\ncorrelation when we analyse Spanish energy import numbers from 2006 through\n2019 (Eurostat, 2021<\/a>). This downward curve was punctuated by the renewable\nmoratorium and other weather circumstances, such as 2017’s drought, keeping\nthis percentage at close to 73%, except for the year 2016 (APPA<\/a>, 2020).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even so, we still have a high dependency, and our\neconomy is exposed to price variability in fossil fuels, which we must still currently\nimport (BP Professorship of Energy and\nSustainability. Pontificia Comillas University, 2020<\/a>). We need more renewables to reduce this dependency\neven further, as demonstrated by the numbers showing how both percentages have\nevolved. In 2018, when the energy from renewable sources in our country was at\n17.4%, energy dependency was at 73.3% (INE (National Institute of Statistics),\n2020<\/a>). That same year, renewables saved\n8,702,000,000 euros in fossil imports, according to data from the Asociaci\u00f3n\nde Empresas de Energ\u00edas Renovables<\/em> (Association of Renewable Energy\nCompanies) (APPA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, the greenest year since 2007 (which is when\nwe began keeping national registries), 44% of total energy generated in our\ncountry was renewable. This is all explained by the installation of new power.\nThe year 2020 came to a close with an additional 4,015 MW. We should also\nmention that 3,950 MW in coal were removed that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any event, increasing our independence is not only\na matter of reducing importations. Efficient energy use is also a determining\nfactor. Moreover, renewables must be massively deployed with the highest\nenvironmental guarantees throughout the entire life cycle of their facilities,\nreducing the possible release of greenhouse gas emissions (GGE) associated with\nthe manufacture of components, their transport, installation works, plant\noperation, and dismantling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain currently has a strategic framework to move forward in this transition toward a more independent, efficient, and sustainable model. The approval of the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law, the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC, in Spanish, 2021-2030), and the distribution of European “Next Generation EU” recovery funds will help to boost the Spanish economy’s decarbonisation and reduce our energy dependency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n