Maximum alert in the renewable sector. Spain has about 40,000 million euros of investment in the air. Around 60,000 MW of renewable projects will lose their access and connection permits to the electricity grid if the Government does not provide a solution to the existing administrative problems.
According to sources in the electricity sector, of the 40,000 MW of wind energy that currently exists with the connection point granted, around 50% -20,000 MW- may lose it between December and April. Likewise, in the case of photovoltaic energy, of the nearly 100,000 MW that is granted, 40% could expire in this same period, that is, around 40,000 MW.
The problem arises from the lack of resources of the administration to be able to attend the avalanche of projects that it has at the moment on the table. According to knowledgeable sources, the autonomous communities and the central government cannot respond in time to either the DIA, or the prior administrative authorizations, or the construction authorizations, which ends up greatly delaying renewable projects.
Of the 140,000 renewable MW that should have the Environmental Impact Statement, some 60,000 MW have not even started the public information process yet (step prior to obtaining the EIS -the second milestone-). In this way, it is very likely that these capabilities cannot meet the deadlines given by the administration and, therefore, lose their connection points.
Administrative delay
For this reason, from the electricity sector it is considered that these delays, in many cases, are making it impossible for developers to meet the deadlines, so an extension of them would be positive, in order to carry out such projects.
“It is of vital importance to solve this situation, since the industrial sector is trapped by the inability of the Administration,” these sources say.
Despite this situation, the sector also considers it necessary to clean the access points, since there are still many speculative projects that are affecting the development of investments.
Curiously, PDeCat has presented an amendment that proposes to extend the deadlines that the promoters of generation projects must meet, so as not to lose access and connection permits, but there is the possibility that the Government could veto this proposal, since it considers that these deadlines should not be extended again.
In accordance with Royal Decree-Law 23/2020, of June 23, the access permits granted since the entry into force of the Electricity Sector Law (December 28, 2013) and before the entry into force of the Royal Decree -Law (June 25, 2020) will expire after five years (from the entry into force of Royal Decree-Law 23/2020) if the definitive administrative authorization for exploitation is not obtained (for the commissioning of the project). Additionally, they will expire if the established intermediate milestones are breached.
The PdeCat has presented an amendment to demand an extension of deadlines from the Government
In the case of new permits, granted from the date of entry into force of Royal Decree-Law 23/2020, the terms are computed from the obtaining of access permits.
Exceptionally, for access permits granted for projects of electric power production facilities for hydraulic pumping technology, the above terms may be extended at the request of the holder, without in any case the total period of validity of the permits exceeding the seven years.
Execution of guarantees
The expiration of access and connection permits, in accordance with the provisions of article 26 of Royal Decree 1183/2020, will entail immediate execution by the competent body for the issuance of administrative authorizations of the financial guarantees presented for the processing of the request for access to the transmission or distribution network, as applicable in each case.
This amount would mean in guarantees between 3,000 and 4,800 million euros, according to existing estimates at this time. However, the competent body may exempt the execution of the deposited guarantee if the expiration of the access and connection permits is motivated because a report or resolution of a public administration prevented said construction, and this was requested by it.
Sources consulted indicate that there are projects that are presenting line layouts incorrectly in order to recover the guarantees.
The electricity companies are considering claiming in the event that the patrimonial responsibility of the state is necessary in cases in which it can demonstrate the administrative delay to be able to face the expenses incurred in the development of the parks that cannot be built.
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