The Government launches 73 measures to achieve an additional cut of between 5% and 13% in gas consumption

It will extend protection to the vulnerable, lower the bill for community boilers and give fiscal aid to households to invest in efficiency

MADRID, 11 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Government has approved a contingency plan made up of a total of 73 measures with the aim of achieving additional savings in natural gas consumption in the country of between 5.1% and 13.5% between last August and May 2023, the period established by the European Commission, in order to face this autumn/winter in the current context of crisis due to the war in Ukraine.

At a press conference after the Council of Ministers, the third vice-president of the Government and minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, pointed out that with this plan, called 'More Energy Security', the aim is to "reinforce the strategic vision and guarantee the affordability of the energy price and solidarity with the rest of Europeans".

Ribera, who stressed that the situation in Spain ahead of next winter "is not the same as that experienced" by other European countries that are historically more dependent on Russian gas, stressed that more than 90 proposals have been received for the preparation of this plan to work on a document "built from dialogue" and that, to the extent of the volatility of the current context, the intention is that it be updated.

Thus, the minister, who valued the consensus reached with all the parties involved in drawing up the plan, pointed out that the intention is to maintain this dialogue and that a monthly monitoring system for the measures will be implemented.

This saving, according to the average of the last five years, would be additional, since currently the reductions in national demand would be around 14%, with which Spain would thus comply with the commitment made to Brussels of a cut of around 6.4% in the period, according to sources from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.

Likewise, they added that the degree of compliance towards the lower or higher side of the range will depend on the level of penetration of the different actions.

Specifically, the plan of 73 measures is encompassed in six large blocks: Savings and efficiency, promoting the ecological transition, consumer protection, taxation, energy autonomy and solidarity with Europe.

Among the main measures, whose regulatory framework must be developed in the shortest possible time, are expanding the protection of vulnerable consumers -with greater coverage for the thermal and electricity bonus and a greater number of the population with protection-, as well as work on a proposal for community boilers - some 1.6 million households that currently cannot benefit from the natural gas TUR - in order to lower their bill this winter, sources from the Ministry specified.

Likewise, the Government will continue promoting self-consumption with an additional 500 million euros in aid to the already approved 900 million euros and with the extension of the 500 meters for self-consumption through the network.

Also included is the approval of more fiscal aid to encourage investment by households in energy transition, in which the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge is working with the Treasury portfolio.

In addition, the measures are also aimed at promoting public financing for SMEs, with an ICO 'green kit' for renewables and savings and efficiency measures, as well as giving more support to the industry, with the expansion of 1,000 million euros per share of renewables, hydrogen and storage, together with a share of decarbonisation of the industry and support for the productive sectors.

Likewise, the Government wants the public sector to contribute to achieving the objectives of this plan with measures aimed at saving energy in public buildings, promoting self-consumption facilities or energy performance contracts in public administrations, allowing consumption to be reduced without resorting to to initial investments by the Administration.

In this regard, sources from the Ministry recalled that at the Energy Sector Conference at the end of September, a unanimous agreement had already been reached with the public administrations that they would all contribute as an important part of this energy saving and that each of them would publish their plan of energy saving.

With regard to special lighting for Christmas, they pointed out that the plan does not make any specific reference and that it only proposes that all public administrations adjust their energy consumption wherever they can. In this way, it was made clear that nothing is going to be prohibited, but that consumption is going to be moderated where it is seen that there is a margin, and everything based on consensus.

In the case of large companies, energy saving contribution plans are requested and how they can highlight and contribute to this country challenge.