Energy
The Oikia association believes there is potential to become an energy storage “hub”
The rollout of renewable energy in Catalonia continues to move forward at a slow pace, despite the urgent need to electrify the region’s economy and industry. However, although renewable energy’s share of the electricity mix declined last year, demand is growing for the installation of batteries to store the electricity generated by these technologies. Oikia, an association dedicated to promoting the green transition, explained on Tuesday that Catalonia has 2.3 GW of battery storage projects that have already obtained access and connection permits, while another 2 GW are under review.
Overall, this capacity represents 22% of that approved throughout Spain, ahead of regions such as Castile and León and Andalusia. According to the organization, Catalonia has an opportunity to become an energy storage hub and leverage this advantage in the electrification of its industrial sector. “In Catalonia, there is little renewable generation, but shared distributed storage could have a future,” says Joan Herrera, former national coordinator of Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds and a founding member of Oikia. In fact, Fira de Barcelona is hosting the first edition of Battery & Energy Storage Tech Europe this week, a trade show designed to boost the European battery industry.
Beyond large stand-alone batteries, which operate autonomously without relying on a generation source, the Spanish government is also set to approve a royal decree that would pave the way for a single battery to serve multiple households through a collective self-consumption scheme. Against a backdrop of rising energy prices due to geopolitical turmoil, the association argues that these systems would allow energy to be captured when costs are low and consumed when prices are higher, generating savings for households and businesses.
The association advocates for batteries to capture energy when prices are low and consume it when prices are higher
Oikia’s president, meteorologist Francesc Mauri, noted that Catalonia is already a leader in self-consumption and could capitalize on the momentum of other projects such as pumped-storage (or reversible) hydroelectric plants, systems that use surplus electricity to pump water to a higher reservoir and then let it flow back down to generate power when the grid needs it. Catalonia has at least three major projects of this type underway: the new reversible hydroelectric plant at La Baells, the expansion of Moralets on the Noguera Ribagorçana River, and the European mega-project Gira (Gironès-Raimat), located between Terra Alta and the Ribera d’Ebre.
Oikia also took advantage of Tuesday’s meeting to announce EcoNòmics, a conference dedicated to the transition to a green economy that will be held in the gardens of Cap Roig on October 8 and 9. Speakers will include the Minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagasen; the president of Red Eléctrica, Beatriz Corredor; and the Catalan Government’s Minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque.