OCU denounces obstacles from distributors and the administration in photovoltaic self-consumption

MADRID, 4 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) denounces obstacles faced by distributors and the administration in photovoltaic self-consumption and demands that they expedite legal procedures, as established by the European Renewable Energy Directive.

According to data provided by OCU, 19% of the energy produced by self-consumption facilities is being lost due to delays in their legalization, which is equivalent to 0.4% of the total national electricity demand.

Thus, although the power generated by self-consumption photovoltaic installations in Spain multiplied by two in 2022, reaching 5,249 MW, the organization considers that "there are still significant obstacles to their implementation."

Specifically, it points to the delays in its legalization, which only "burden the amortization of the facilities and discourage investment."

OCU points out that the administrations themselves are "first responsible" for these delays, because although the Energy Savings Decree approved by the Government a little over a year ago streamlined certain procedures, it "continues to be insufficient."

The organization also considers that the departments of the autonomous communities "do not seem very fast when it comes to expediting authorizations either", contrary to what is established by the European Renewable Energy Directive.

Regarding "bad practices" of electricity distributors, OCU gives as an example the difficulty of formalizing individual contracts, the prohibition of a consumer being associated with more than one self-consumption or the obligation for the owner to modify the connection facilities. or on the network.

In short, OCU has urged an end to "the enormous energy waste" caused by the delay in connecting the installation to the electrical grid.

To this end, it has required the administrations involved to "agree on a common and simple procedure, as well as to have the necessary personnel to expedite the procedures", while it has demanded that the distributors "automatically cease illegal practices and assume the technical changes that corresponds to them" or otherwise, "they must be sanctioned as appropriate and in an exemplary manner by the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC)".