- Demand boost, storage systems, institutional support, and development of the decarbonization industry are the four keys to the success of the energy transition, both from an environmental and economic perspective, as identified by the Foro Industria y Energía (Industry and Energy Forum). These keys are extracted from the conclusions report of Foro Sella 2024, recently published in Spanish and English.
The report highlights that due to its geostrategic and climatic characteristics, Spain has established itself as a major renewable energy power, with a competitive advantage over other European countries. Specifically, Aragón stands out due to its availability of industrial land, sun, and wind. Alongside local and national visions, the analysis indicates that there is an increasing need for a European approach to create a single energy market, as well as the development of financing tools to enable this market to compete with powers like the United States or China.
Demand boost
The Foro Sella report points out that in recent years, the energy transition has been achieved through increased renewable production, mainly wind and solar, which however has not led to an increase in electricity consumption but rather a decrease. Therefore, the energy transition will only be possible through a boost in electrical demand.
“The growth in renewable energy production is not being accompanied by an increase in electricity consumption,” explains Albert Concepción, director of the Industry and Energy Forum. “Thus, promoting the electrification of the economy, relying on robust distribution networks, is the only way to integrate renewables into the system,” he adds.
Development of storage systems
Technological development of storage systems and hybridization are fundamental tools to transform the renewable energy paradigm, allowing for better utilization of resources and access points.
The Foro Sella report notes that storage systems play a major role in the development of renewables, as they eliminate the main drawback these energies have always had: lack of manageability. Through storage – batteries, pumped hydroelectric storage, reversible pumping – supply stability and manageability are guaranteed, in addition to price control.
Institutional support
The report emphasizes the importance of institutional support, necessary to remove barriers so that all opportunities arising from the energy transition can naturally emerge. In this sense, the role of administrations is to seek coherence in the institutional framework at all levels: European, national, and local.
At the European level, this support also involves boosting financing, necessary for the decarbonization of industry while maintaining its competitiveness.
Boosting the decarbonization industry
Finally, the text points out that the energy transition represents an opportunity for the emergence of a new productive sector: clean energy. Within this segment, it is crucial to promote circular economy practices, including recycling of equipment used to produce renewable energies within the value chain, thus closing the cycle and enabling the concept of “circular energy”. Ultimately, it’s about integrating all these elements to go beyond the goal of decarbonizing industry and create the decarbonization industry itself.