• This study by IDAE is a necessary but insufficient snapshot. The report represents a significant step forward in the statistical understanding of energy consumption in Spanish industry, and its breakdown by end uses is particularly valuable. However, it presents important limitations that constrain its strategic usefulness.

  • The data refer to 2021, which means the study is already outdated when used to guide decisions in the current context of prices, technologies, and regulation.

  • The presentation of electricity as a “clean” energy vector can be misleading if not properly contextualized. The study treats electricity as final energy without clarifying its primary origin.

  • What is now needed is the second part: a prospective analysis that models transition scenarios, evaluates the costs of emerging technologies, and quantifies the investment gap ahead.

November 28, 2025

The Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) has recently published its comprehensive Study of Consumption, Costs and Energy Uses in Industry, an analysis that aims to map the energy consumption of the Spanish industrial sector. At Foro Industria y Energía, where we closely follow the evolution of industrial energy management throughout the decarbonisation process, we have examined this document in depth.

This concern is not new: since our inception, we have monitored the sector’s energy pulse, producing our own analyses based on updated data and consistent methodologies. That is why this new IDAE report is of particular interest to us—it allows comparison, nuance, and complementation of the perspective we have already been building. The result is bittersweet: we find a methodologically robust work, but one with significant limitations that constrain its usefulness in shaping the energy strategy the industry needs right now.

The Bright Spots: Strengths of the Study

The report represents a significant advance in the statistical understanding of industrial energy consumption in Spain. It strictly complies with the requirements of EU Regulation 2019/2146, which demanded greater granularity in national energy statistics. The methodology is solid: validated surveys, certified measurements, integration of multiple sources (ESCILA, biomass studies), and rigorous statistical treatment with population weighting to ensure representativeness.

The breakdown by end uses is particularly valuable. Knowing that 26% of energy is devoted to very high-temperature heat allows decarbonisation policies to be properly targeted: Where are the greatest technological barriers? Which sectors need more support to innovate? The cost-to-turnover analysis is also revealing: identifying that non-metallic minerals and steel allocate 12.9% and 13.2% of their turnover to energy helps prioritise support measures and assess relocation risks.

The Shadows: Significant Limitations

But the report has important weaknesses that constrain its strategic usefulness.

The first and most obvious is the temporal gap: the data refer to 2021. This is not a methodological critique but a serious practical limitation. The energy landscape changed dramatically between 2021 and 2023. Gas prices multiplied in 2022, electricity reached historical highs, and the European energy geopolitics was completely reshaped after the invasion of Ukraine. The prices reported—3.9 cents/kWh for gas and 14.8 cents/kWh for electricity—are irrelevant for understanding today’s industrial conditions.

Moreover, this time lag is crucial: since 2021, a significant number of cogeneration plants have shut down or reduced operations due to the energy crisis and regulatory uncertainty. This completely alters the picture of the real industrial energy mix in 2022–2025. Cogeneration no longer supplies the same amount of electricity and useful heat reflected in the report’s data. At the same time, industrial electricity consumption has declined appreciably. This means the consumption structure presented by the study is not representative of the current industrial situation.

The second limitation is conceptual. When the report analyses grid electricity (28.2% of consumption, 80,210 GWh), it treats it as final energy without disaggregating its primary origin. How much of that electricity comes from gas-fired combined-cycle plants? How much from renewables? How much from nuclear? This is critical for evaluating real decarbonisation. If a large share of the electricity consumed by an “electrified” sector comes from natural gas, decarbonisation remains limited. The report recognises this traceability for self-generation (describing cogeneration fuels) but omits it for grid electricity.

Related to this, presenting electricity as a “clean” vector can be misleading without proper context. The report correctly highlights that certain sectors are more electrified (non-ferrous metals, machinery, and transport equipment with more than 40% electricity consumption), but it does not clarify the degree of indirect dependence on gas that persists within the electricity generation mix. In other words, part of this “electrification” is still linked to fossil fuels. This simplification affects both sectoral analyses and potential recommendations derived from the study.

A third limitation is methodological: the report itself acknowledges difficulties in separating consumption between refining (CNAE 19) and chemicals/petrochemicals (CNAE 20–21) within large integrated industrial complexes, recommending that they be analysed jointly. This reduces the precision of sector-by-sector analysis, particularly in two highly energy-intensive strategic sectors.

An Industrial Mosaic of 640,000 Pieces

The study draws from a substantial statistical base: 7,397 establishments surveyed and 200 on-site measurements, covering a universe of 639,832 industrial establishments whose total turnover reached €696.4 billion in 2021. The resulting panorama reveals a sector dominated by micro-enterprises (the vast majority of establishments have fewer than 10 employees), yet where energy consumption is dramatically concentrated in a handful of energy-intensive sectors.

Total energy consumption reached 322,904 GWh, of which 284,920 GWh correspond to final energy. This figure breaks down as 70.2% various fuels, 28.2% grid electricity, and only 1.6% renewable self-generation. Here emerges the study’s first major conclusion: Spanish industry remains deeply dependent on fossil fuels, especially natural gas.

The Dictatorship of Natural Gas

The report’s most revealing finding is the absolute dominance of natural gas: it represents 70.8% of total fuel consumption, with 168,523 GWh consumed. This dependence is not evenly distributed: it is concentrated mainly in food and beverages (34,251 GWh), refining (34,057 GWh), non-metallic minerals (27,311 GWh), and chemicals/petrochemicals (23,078 GWh). These four sectors account for more than two-thirds of industrial gas consumption.

Why does this matter? Because it creates a structural vulnerability. Natural gas, although cleaner than other fossil fuels, is still a hydrocarbon whose prices fluctuate wildly due to geopolitical tensions—a reality the Spanish industry experienced acutely in 2022 and 2023, right after the period analysed—and whose decarbonisation is complex in high-temperature applications. The energy transition in industry necessarily requires solving this gas dilemma.

The Thermal Challenge: Where Energy Is Really Consumed

One of the study’s most valuable contributions is the disaggregated analysis by end uses. Here lies the true challenge: 62.6% of energy consumption is devoted to heat production, mainly in two critical ranges.

  • Very high-temperature heat (>500°C): 26% of total consumption (71,861 GWh), concentrated in non-metallic minerals (cement, glass, ceramics) and steel, where 68.1% and 62% of energy respectively powers furnaces and foundries.

  • Medium- and low-temperature heat (up to 200°C): 23.6% (65,156 GWh), essential in pulp and paper, textiles, and food processing.

This distribution explains why electrifying industry is not as simple as installing solar panels. Current industrial heat pump technologies operate efficiently at moderate temperatures, but processes requiring above 500°C are far more complex. Yet giving up is not an option: Roca’s pioneering effort to develop the world’s first 100% electric sanitary porcelain kiln demonstrates that electrifying difficult processes is possible with innovation and determination.

The Electricity Paradox: Expensive but Minority

The report documents a revealing economic anomaly: although grid electricity represents only 28.2% of energy consumption (80,210 GWh), it accounts for 59.1% of the industry’s total energy bill, which reached €20.018 billion in 2021. In other words, electricity costs more than twice as much per unit of energy as natural gas and other fuels.

Average 2021 prices were 14.7 cents/kWh for electricity versus 3.9 cents/kWh for natural gas. This cost difference is one of the fundamental obstacles to industrial electrification. Sectors such as steel and foundries, non-ferrous metals, or chemicals are major electricity consumers (representing more than 60% of total consumption), but every percentage point increase in electricity costs directly erodes their international competitiveness.

Cogeneration: The Great Invisible Ally

The study devotes considerable attention to cogeneration, the technology that simultaneously produces electricity and useful heat. In 2021, cogeneration facilities consumed 84,664 GWh of fuels to generate 35,795 GWh of useful process heat.

Four sectors account for over 80% of cogeneration: pulp and paper (25.1%), refining (21.4%), food (19.8%), and chemicals (15.9%). These are precisely the sectors with simultaneous demand for process heat and electricity, which makes cogeneration economically viable.

Cogeneration is a key bridging technology: it reduces emissions compared to separate systems, improves energy efficiency, and provides a degree of self-sufficiency. Precisely because of its strategic importance, it is essential to resolve the regulatory uncertainty that threatens its viability and to provide clarity regarding the schedule of upcoming cogeneration auctions.

It is worth noting, however, that a significant share of the cogeneration fleet has ceased operating since 2021, meaning the picture presented by the IDAE report does not reflect the real collapse of cogeneration or its impact on the most recent industrial thermal and electrical consumption.

The Timid Progress of Renewables

Renewable self-generation in industry remains minimal. Industrial solar PV produced only 418.75 GWh—less than 1% of industrial electricity consumption—though 83.9% of that amount was self-consumed. Leading sectors were food (35.6%), non-metallic minerals (16.8%), and machinery (11%). Wind power is practically nonexistent (15.28 GWh). Direct renewable thermal energy (solar thermal, geothermal) contributed just 2,437 GWh, almost entirely in chemicals (98.8%). As for renewable fuels, the report accounts for 24,435 GWh, representing only 10.3% of fuel consumption.

The Road Ahead

This IDAE study is a necessary but insufficient snapshot. Necessary because it establishes a robust quantitative baseline essential for designing well-founded decarbonisation policies. Insufficient because, published in 2025 with 2021 data, it is already limited when guiding decisions in today’s context of prices, technologies, and regulation.

Spanish industry faces enormous challenges in its energy management: replacing 168,523 GWh of natural gas, decarbonising 137,000 GWh of thermal demand (combining the 71,861 GWh of very high-temperature heat and the 65,156 GWh of medium- and low-temperature heat), electrifying processes while maintaining competitiveness, and scaling renewable self-generation from the current 1% to meaningful levels. All this must be done without destroying jobs or triggering industrial relocation.

The IDAE report documents the magnitude of the challenge. What is needed now is the second part: a forward-looking analysis that models transition scenarios, evaluates the costs of emerging technologies, and quantifies the investment gap ahead.

At Foro Industria y Energía, we will continue to analyse these data critically and promote informed debate on how to reconcile industrial decarbonisation with competitiveness. Moving toward a decarbonised and competitive industry requires decisions based on data—not intuition. Analyses like this help us understand both the magnitude of the challenge and the opportunities that lie ahead for the sector.