Catalonia wants to multiply photovoltaic power by 20

The Parliament of Catalonia yesterday validated Decree Law 16/2019 on urgent measures for the climate emergency and the promotion of renewable energies, and also approved, unanimously, the creation of a commission to monitor the climate emergency. The Government has also announced that, the validated Decree Law will be accompanied “shortly” by the processing of the Energy Transition Law and the creation of the Catalan Energy Agency, both actions aimed “at achieving the objectives established by the Climate Change Law and by the bases of the National Pact for the Energy Transition”, objectives (below we detail them) whose fulfillment will require the installation of 4,000 megawatts of wind and 6,000 photovoltaic by 2030, according to the Institut Català d’Energia. Right now, in Catalonia there are around 300 megabytes of solar power and 1,271 of wind power.

The Consellera d’Empresa i Coneixement del Govern de Cataluña, Àngels Chacón, presented yesterday before Parliament the decree in question, which has been validated by 124 votes in favor (Ciudadanos, JxCat, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, Partido Socialista and Cataluña En Comú Podem). There were only 4 votes against (CUP) and 4 abstentions (Popular Party of Catalonia). The validated Decree-Law repeals a previous one, Decret 147/2009, which established a series of limitations on the development of wind and photovoltaic farms that have practically paralyzed, de facto, the development of these technologies (especially wind energy) in Catalan territory during the last ten years. Thus, the new Decret llei 16 eliminates on the one hand restrictions for the implementation of wind and photovoltaic installations and, on the other, also recovers articles of the Llei del canvi climàtic annulled by the Constitutional Court. It recovers them – informs the Government – modifying the wording: for example, the one related to the neutrality of emi
CO2 sions by 2050, the electrification of the ports of the Generalitat, the limitation of hydraulic fracturing or the penetration of electric mobility in transport.

The Decret llei 16/2019 -informs the Government- facilitates and speeds up the installation of self-consumption systems in homes and in urban environments. Thus, to favor the implementation of self-production systems in buildings and in the public space of cities, these will not count for the purposes of remonta in the buildings and may be located on unbuilt plots (as long as they are not more than 1 meter high). Its implementation on non-developable land is also facilitated, provided that environmental and landscape criteria are met. All projects, in any way, “must comply with the environmental, urban and landscape protection figures in force, so as to guarantee maximum respect for the environment where they are located.” The validated Decree-Law also implements a new processing model through a “one-stop shop” that the Government assures “will reduce the authorization procedure of an installation to thirteen months.”

Àngels Chacón, Consellera d’Empresa i Coneixement del Govern de Cataluña: “it is renewable energies that must adapt to the territory, and not the territory to renewable energies”

The Plenary has also approved, in this case unanimously, the “proposal to create a monitoring commission of the climate emergency”. The purpose of the commission, which should be constituted soon, will be “to monitor the action of the Government in relation to the climate emergency”. This initiative aims, among other things, to “analyze and review Catalan legislation to detect and modify” the regulations that hinder the fight against climate change. The proposal – informs the Parliament – establishes that the commission works while the climate emergency persists and that it makes a report at the end of each mandate and one, final, once the emergency situation ends.

The Decret llei 9/2019 proposes, among other things

• Promote the necessary measures in the field of energy saving and efficiency so that the final consumption of energy in 2030 is a minimum of 32.5% lower than the trend, within the framework of the basic state regulations on energy.

• Promote the necessary measures in the field of renewable energies so that the electricity consumption of Catalonia comes -50% in 2030 and 100% in the year 2050- from these renewable sources, prioritizing the proximity of electricity production of renewable origin to consumption centers.

The Consellera d’Empresa i Coneixement, Àngels Chacón, has also announced that the validated Decree-Law will be accompanied shortly by the processing of the Energy Transition Law and the creation of the Catalan Energy Agency. The law – informs the Government – will have the function of laying the foundations of the energy transition and establishing long-term strategies, while the Catalan Energy Agency will be the body that must allow coordinating and exercising the governance of the transformation of the country’s energy model. According to the Government of Catalonia, all this action is aimed at achieving the objectives established by the Climate Change Law and by the bases of the National Pact for the Energy Transition, compliance with which would require the installation of 4,000 megawatts of wind and 6,000 photovoltaic megabytes by 2030, according to the first estimates of the Institut Català d’Energia (Icaen). According to data from the Government, the energy cycle is responsible for 72% of greenhouse gas emissions in Catalonia.

According to the UNEF 2019 Yearbook, published by the Spanish Photovoltaic Union in early autumn, 268 megawatts of photovoltaic solar had been installed in Catalonia at the end of last year. According to the Wind Yearbook 2019, published by the Wind Business Association just a few days ago, in Catalonia there were at the end of last year (also the latest consolidated data) 1,271 megawatts of installed wind power.

Source: Renewable Energies