An average household has saved around 69 euros on its electricity bill due to the cap on gas, according to Esade

The mechanism has the risk of being a "subsidy to those who do not finance it", referring to French consumers

MADRID, 30 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

An average household with a consumption of about eight kilowatt hours (KWh) per day has saved an average of 69 euros since the beginning of the application of the cap on gas for electricity generation, in force in Spain since June 15, according to a report prepared by EsadeEcPol, Esade's economic policy research center.

According to their estimates, without the gas cap, electricity prices in households covered by the regulated rate in Spain would have been 24% higher than those registered in the country between June 15 and August 31, so the measure, according to the institution, has achieved "its central objective."

Specifically, the results of the estimation indicate that, with "high confidence", the average price of electricity for consumers in the regulated market would have been between 19% and 30% higher in the absence of the ceiling, with an estimate point of 24.4%.

As detailed by Esade, its calculation model allows "almost guarantee" that this decline is not due to other causes or random phenomena.

However, the report concludes that this saving entails a "significant cost" in the sense that since the measure came into force the consumption of gas to generate electricity has increased "notably", specifically, around 139 gigawatts hour (GWh) per day for the whole period.

"We also observe that this increase has occurred at the same time that the use of other technologies has decreased, especially cogeneration and hydroelectricity. Of course, we must take into account that the context of pronounced drought during this summer that has made production difficult hydroelectric prevents attributing this drop to the new measure", adds the study.

Despite this, the researchers point out that the data obtained suggest that the cap on gas can reduce, "at least when it coincides with adverse events for clean technologies", the incentive for the transition to non-polluting sources.

"In particular, the opposite effect occurs: an incentive to gas consumption, something undesirable in the current European context, which sets short-term savings and long-term decarbonisation objectives at the same time," the study highlights.

On the other hand, the application of the Iberian mechanism has also had an impact on electricity exports to France and Portugal, which, according to the study, "have increased considerably."

In this sense, the Third Vice President and Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, has recognized on several occasions that the situation of the French nuclear park causes the French country to import electricity "to the maximum" from neighboring countries, while also has stressed that 25% of the electricity consumed in Portugal comes from Spain.

In fact, Esade stresses that if the trend observed today continues, by the end of the year electricity exports will double those made in 2021.

The report also underlines that the cap on gas, regardless of the savings achieved, risks being a "subsidy to those who do not finance it", referring to French consumers.

"Both events occur in a context of nuclear failure, the basis of the French electricity supply, which complicates the interpretation of the data. However, it serves as an example of what could happen with a measure similar to this compensation applied in throughout the EU and with the interconnections of its member countries abroad: there could be a "leakage" of the money invested in the form of greater consumption of electricity based on gas towards border countries that would benefit from said investment at zero cost", he adds the study.