Technology

If something has the ability to shake the foundations of the energy landscape it is energy self-sufficiency. At least this is what the seven associations supporting the launch of this platform believe. The platform bringing together major players in the renewable energy and installation sectors in Spain: the Wind Energy Association (AEE) the Photovoltaic Business Association (AEF), the Association of Rooftop Photovoltaic System Installers (AIFOC), the Association of Renewable Energy Producers and Investors (ANPER), the Association of Renewable Energy Producers (APPA), the Photovoltaic Industry Association (ASIF), and the National Federation of Electrical Installation and Telecommunication Employers of Spain (FENIE).

These are the entities that publically support the platform, while the initiative has also received the backing of Spain’s Institute of Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE), the Consumers and Users Organization (OCU), Greenpeace, WWF, SEO/BirdLife, the Renewable Energy Foundation (Fundación Renovables), CIEMAT, Cener, architect associations, etc. The platform has been established under the motto of “Consume your own energy” and was created “with the intention of bringing together voices and efforts calling for a regulation that contributes to boosting distributed generation and net balance energy self-sufficiency,” explains its promoters.

“Distributed generation is what best defines the shift in energy model we propose,” said the President of the Renewable Energy Foundation, Javier Garcia Breva. “Energy self-sufficiency is all about saving energy, not generating it. And it replaces today’s captive consumer with one who is self-reliant and independent. We need to ensure that energy self-sufficiency becomes a new citizen’s right, granting everyone access to renewable energy.”

How it works
Energy self-sufficiency means that the consumer himself generates energy. “Your facility must be connected to the electricity system inside your home or office,” explained Jose Antonio Gonzalez, General Secretary of FENIE, who presided over the launch in January. “You can consume the energy produced by the facility or evacuate it to the grid, receiving money in return. What the net balance allows is for you to consume the same energy from the grid as you have contributed to it during the year”.

Other advantages of self-sufficiency that have been tabled include: the fact that it involves no cost to the electricity system; the consumer enjoys financial and energy savings for life after making a small initial outlay; the efficiency of the electricity system is improved through distributed generation, thereby allowing energy savings of at least 10% due to the avoidance of transmission losses because energy is generated near the point of consumption; fossil fuel demand and dependence on foreign energy is reduced, which improves the balance of payments; it reactivates national economic and industrial activity and increases the competitiveness of enterprises and generates quality jobs; and it curbs greenhouse emissions.

The new platform has presented a plan of action to achieve the enactment of a regulation that allows net balance self-sufficiency to become a reality in Spain. “To this end, it is essential to reduce red tape,” said a spokesperson for the platform during its presentation.

Moreover, the members of the platform consider it essential to conduct awareness raising campaigns to reach people and promote self-sufficiency. “The platform supports the net balance system currently being devised, with the improvements that have been passed allowing meters to be grouped, minimising tolls, not limiting capacity to 100kW, offering the possibility of offsetting the energy in a period other than when it was generated, and so on. The platform aims to make self-consumption of energy as easy for the consumer as an appliance or equipment used to produce energy instead of use it”.

For additional information:
www.consumetupropiaenergia.org