Conchita Hurtado de Mendoza: a strategic voice for leading the energy transition
The energy transition is moving towards a more sustainable, flexible and customer-centric model. To mark the participation of ALPIQ, Gold Sponsor of FEL2050, at olivoENERGY we had the pleasure to speak with Conchita Hurtado de Mendoza, Head of Regulation and Institutional Affairs at ALPIQ Spain, about the key challenges facing the energy sector and the role Spain must play in leading the shift towards a cleaner, more competitive future.
Active in the energy sector since 2008, Conchita has built a solid, cross-cutting career spanning market access for producers, renewable generation project development, and electricity and natural gas marketing.
As Head of Regulation and Institutional Affairs, she represents the company in the most relevant sectoral associations, actively participating in regulatory consultations and positioning papers at both national and European levels. She leads institutional dialogue and regulatory monitoring in strategic areas for the company.
Clearly international in profile, she speaks six languages, enhancing her ability to foster dialogue in global settings and act as a bridge across different regulatory frameworks in the European countries where Alpiq operates.
Europe’s energy transition requires accelerating the integration of renewables, electrifying the economy and ensuring the competitiveness of the system. From your experience, what do you consider to be the most decisive factors for achieving a solid and balanced energy transformation?
Europe is in a good position to meet its climate targets for the coming decades. In 2024, renewables generated 48% of electricity in the EU, compared to 45% in 2023 and 41% in 2022. Clean energy technologies are competitive in terms of operating costs and Europe’s manufacturing capacity is highly diversified. However, we need to succeed in creating an enabling framework, which builds strategic autonomy in the EU, secures the industrial base and maintains the continent’s innovation potential. And then, already in the right environment, we can complete the energy transition process in a solid and progressive manner, ensuring security of supply and leaving no one behind.
The energy transition must necessarily be articulated through multiple vectors. For Alpiq, the essential ones are:
- Development and integration of infrastructures, with digitisation of grids to manage greater variability and decentralisation, flexible technologies that provide system resilience and integrate the intermittency inherent in renewable generation, and international interconnections that strengthen the single energy market.
- A stable and predictable regulatory framework, capable on the one hand of providing the stability sought by private investment and, on the other hand, flexible enough to navigate an increasingly changing and competitive environment.
- Innovation, competitiveness and economic sustainability, with support for the decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries. We must make affordable energy available to our industry and facilitate electrification and access to bio-based fuels.
- People. A transition that allows citizen participation, with models of distributed generation, energy communities and self-consumption. And with a focus on talent, training professionals for a new era.
The energy system of the future requires new approaches to flexibility, storage and active demand management. How does ALPIQ see the evolution of these services in the Spanish market and what role will they play in the efficiency of the electricity system?
Flexibility is essential for the energy transition. It not only brings system stability and security of supply, but also enables the integration of renewable energy sources into the mix and helps to reduce system costs, especially in terms of technical and economic spill-overs. The need for flexibility will increase in the coming years due to the greater presence of renewable energy in the system (depending on the studies, we would be talking about between 69 and 83% of the energy generated in the EU in 2030), the advance of electrification and the increase in electricity demand, as well as the progressive abandonment of conventional thermal technologies and the imperative of guaranteeing security of supply.
And while flexibility needs vary for each Member State, there are common elements, such as demand and batteries to cover short-term flexibility needs, and longer-term flexibility solutions such as hydrogen or hydro power plants.
And in the face of commonalities, common challenges. A study recently published by the European Parliament notes that at present neither regulation in general terms – still evolving – nor the design of market functioning rules, in particular, are conducive to the participation of flexible assets.
Although firmness and flexibility are not equivalent, they are interrelated. Alpiq therefore applauds the implementation of remuneration mechanisms for capacity in Spain, which will boost the development of storage while ensuring the availability of sufficient back-up power during the process. Equally crucial will be the digitisation and real-time management of the distribution network, which will allow for a capillary penetration of flexibility in the system and the creation of local flexibility markets.
Finally, we must pursue a Single Energy Union, which is not evident today, as the Letta report highlighted. Market fragmentation limits Europe’s efficiency and competitiveness. For example, the non-remuneration of primary regulation in Spain puts us at a disadvantage for the development of batteries compared to other European countries.
Digitisation and real-time management of distribution networks will be key to embedding flexibility into the system and fostering local flexibility markets.
Spain has great potential to become a clean energy hub, especially in the development of renewable hydrogen. What conditions must be in place to take full advantage of this opportunity?
It is clear that Spain has a great opportunity to become one of the European leaders in renewable hydrogen production. This is mainly due to the potential for renewable generation at competitive prices. As we know, 60% of the cost of H2 corresponds to electricity, so those countries where cheaper electricity can be generated will have the greatest potential to produce competitive renewable hydrogen to support the decarbonisation of the hard-to-abate industry (those with the greatest difficulties in electrifying their production processes and reducing CO2 emissions).
We are at a key moment in which decisions must be taken to promote and allow us to effectively become a European and even a world reference in the production of renewable hydrogen. In my opinion, the main challenges we are facing right now are:
First and foremost, the biggest challenge is demand. At present, the price of renewable hydrogen is up to 3-4 times higher than the price of the energy it replaces. This is why policies are needed to close the gap between the cost of production and the demand side’s willingness to pay (offtaker).
In addition, a stable regulatory framework is essential. It is now that investment decisions are being made and we need certainty for the coming years. Technology and infrastructure can also be seen as challenges or barriers, but here we are making steady progress. There is a very favourable technological development, which allows production costs to be optimised. In addition, we are seeing Spanish companies positioning themselves in this link of the value chain, which will reduce foreign demand for equipment and generate value at the national level.
Finally, public-private collaboration is essential. We have to join forces to be able to face these challenges, to move forward with the projects and to be able to exploit this renewable H2 production potential as a country.
ALPIQ is strongly positioned in innovative energy services for producers and large consumers. How are you adapting your offer to an increasingly decentralised, digitalised and sustainability-oriented market?
In a market and regulatory context that can be defined as VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity), i.e. with high Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity, companies, whether they are producers or large consumers, are forced to continuously adapt their strategy.
At Alpiq we have internalised flexibility, both in the management of our own assets and in services for third parties. For this reason, we are able to understand how the evolution of the market, with continuous and dynamic changes, requires a greater capacity to adapt in order to offer competitive advantages to producers and large consumers, in an increasingly competitive environment.
Building on our knowledge, experience and resources, we are continuously working on our value proposition, with more sophisticated services and products, such as new pricing and PPA product models for large consumers, with combinations of existing products or with financially structured products using options, as well as on behalf of renewable energy producers, where we are maximising the value of the flexible management of their assets in the participation of balancing markets according to technologies and with a continuous investment in the improvement of resources and processes, achieving among other milestones that more than 80% of the total installed capacity represented is enabled to maximise the result with these production assets.
Making our asset optimisation expertise available to producers strengthens the business case for projects in an environment marked by uncertainty and the increasing presence of negative prices in the market.
As a Gold Sponsor of FEL2050, what motivates you to be part of this forum and what is the key message you want to share with the energy ecosystem that will gather at this edition?
Energy transition is not just a goal, it is a shared responsibility. In this forum we open a space for open, constructive and necessary dialogue between companies, institutions and citizens. And understanding is a necessary starting point for change.
Through its participation in this forum, Alpiq brings decades of experience in flexible asset management, key to enabling the integration of renewables into the system that will lead us to our common goal of climate neutrality by 2050.
It is time for all of us to pull in the same direction, with commitment and shared vision. All as one, because tomorrow’s energy depends on the decisions we make today.
FEL2050 is a call to action: tomorrows energy depends on the decisions we make today. It is time to move forward together, with commitment and a shared vision.
From olivoENERGY we would like to thank Alpiq and Conchita Hurtado de Mendoza for its active participation in the forum and its commitment to an energy transition based on innovation, efficiency and collaboration. Their vision reinforces the idea that the shift towards a cleaner energy system is a strategic opportunity to build a more resilient and competitive future.
More information
Alpiq is a leading energy company in Europe. As a power producer and international energy trader, Alpiq has been active in major European markets for over 25 years, including Spain.
Alpiq’s strategy focuses on generation through flexible assets that provide system resilience and backup capacity, enabling the integration of renewable energy. The company is also active in energy trading and origination.
With many years of experience in origination, Alpiq offers tailor-made solutions for market access, asset and risk management, and market representation services. It is particularly active in structuring long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for energy buyers and sellers.
