Round Table: “Grids and the impact of new technologies”
The XVII General Assembly of Futured took place last Wednesday, 12 of June and we attended from olivoENERGY as a member of its Consejo Rector. The Assembly was an excellent opportunity to deepen our knowledge of the challenges, opportunities and future of electricity grids in Spain from the main players in the electricity sector, through the three round tables that took place during the day.
Marina Serrano, president of, aelēc was in charge of moderating the first round table of the conference “Grids and the impact of new technologies”, in which the speakers had the opportunity to discuss the challenges facing electricity grids in the current context. From the point of view of MITECO, Carlos Redondo, secretary general for electricity, commented that “there is a challenge from the point of view of demand due to particularly high consumption and it is necessary to adapt the regulation to the new needs of the grids”. He also highlighted the prior public consultation on the modification of the network investment limit, which seeks to optimise investments.
Eva Mancera, CEO of I-DE Redes Eléctricas Inteligentes, gave the view from the distributor’s point of view. The grids are becoming a brake on electrification, but we are at a point where it can still be reversed. There is a very high number of requests for access, which shows that we have a drawback and flexibility is a resource that must be incorporated into the process of transforming the grids and for this there must be clear incentives, although it is not the only solution.
Regarding the concept of flexibility, Francisco Rodríguez. CEO E-REDES Spain, pointed out that when access to the network is requested, what prevails in relation to this request is firmness, and these are concepts that are not in line with each other. Progress in terms of flexibility requires changes in the scheme of consumer rights and guarantees. Today, it is not worthwhile for companies to invest in mechanisms that promote flexibility, given that there is no regulatory model that rewards this type of investment and, from his point of view, it is necessary to develop an incentive scheme.
With regard to the remuneration model, Leo Hervás, General Manager of CIDE (Association of Electricity Distributors) commented that “the remuneration model is a challenge in itself, the model adopted must be transparent, the rules must be known ex ante; as well as being flexible to avoid it becoming obsolete, it must be able to adapt to reality”. For his part, José María González, Director General of APPA Renovables, stressed in his speech that there is a big question mark over how to take care of demand and expressed his concern over technological imbalances, believing that we should not focus on a single technology.
In her speech, Mar Olmedo, vice-president of AFBEL, stressed that manufacturers need a more stable and planned regulatory framework and that decreasing demand does not necessarily translate into lower consumption, but that demand is different and requires renovation of equipment to adapt to new technologies.
Round Table: “The industry and its associated ecosystem”
Martina Tomé, vice-president of Futured, was in charge of moderating the second round table “The industry and its associated ecosystem” and remarked in her first intervention that industries have a commitment to respond to the needs of the sector. Betting on development and innovation. Regulation needs to provide a suitable scenario for innovation to be incorporated into the operation of grids.
The members of this second round table highlighted the need for the grids to evolve in the face of new challenges and that the infrastructure and agility of Spanish industry is essential to implement innovation, as commented by Concha Sánchez, General Manager of Red Eléctrica Operations, and Eduardo Pedrosa, Director of Transmission & Distribution Ingeteam, respectively. General Director of Operations of Red Eléctrica and Eduardo Pedrosa, Director of Transmission & Distribution Ingeteam, respectively.
For his part, Ramón Gallart, representing ASEME, emphasised the change in mentality and that the new challenges at the technological level respond more to this circumstance. As a challenge, he pointed out that it is necessary to know how to ask the questions that concern network users.
Oscar Querol. General Manager AFME and Rafael Álvarez de Toledo. Export Director SERCOBE highlighted in their speeches the need to industrialise Spain and Europe and therefore bring changes and stability for the industry to invest. It is necessary to specifically support the industry to achieve a digital transformation that requires large investments and qualified personnel and that the Spanish industry is clearly an exporter and competes with markets that are very different. For example, with markets that have high barriers to entry, such as Brazil, so it is necessary to keep an eye on the outside world in order to keep moving forward and be prepared for change.
The XVII Futured General Assembly closed with the month “Knowledge and attracting talent” in which the challenges faced by companies in the sector to attract and retain talent were raised. Mention was made of the different tools they use to recruit professionals with analytical skills and the need for programmes that encourage vocations from an early age.
A very interesting day that is always an opportunity to deepen our knowledge of the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition as well as to connect and discuss with other partners and associates.
