United We Can wants to expand the scope of self-consumption and allow energy communities of 20 kilometers

The PSOE prefers to give the Government six months to decide in the Council of Ministers how much the maximum distance is extended

MADRID, 16 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

United We Can wants to expand the scope of self-consumption networks, limited until now to 500 meters, so that they can be extended up to 5 kilometers and also allow the establishment of connected energy communities at a distance of 20 kilometers, for which it proposes a regulation.

This is the proposal put forward by the confederal group in an amendment, to which Europa Press has had access, to the bill that Congress is processing from the Government decree with measures against the price crisis derived from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

These amendments also contemplate a limit of 0.1% on the increase in the cost of variable-rate mortgages due to the increase in interest rates and the automatic extension of rental contracts for at least six more months, to prevent a renewal suppose its increase.

In addition to these amendments, the minority partner of the Government proposes a new provision to modify the regulation on the administrative, technical and economic conditions of self-consumption of electrical energy established in decree 244/2019.

All this to extend to 5 kilometers the current limit of 500 meters between the generation of electricity and the associated consumers, and to make it even greater for the citizen energy communities and renewable energy communities, legal figures for which they also propose regulation.

In its justification, United We Can wields that the 500-meter limit represents a "very small distance compared to other self-consumption figures or communities established within the legal frameworks of the Member States."

For these communities, they contemplate a maximum distance of 20 kilometers when the installation has a power of less than 5 megawatts (MW), connected to both generation and consumption at a voltage of less than 36 kilowatts (kV).

This distance, raises the confederal group, could even be extended at the request of the community itself to a greater distance to cover the entire municipal term in which this community is located, or in the case of municipalities with a low population density, that of several bordering municipalities.

The other part of the coalition government, the PSOE, has also presented an amendment to this decree to expand the scope of self-consumption, but without going into precise limits, since it postpones the definition of the limit until later.

Thus, according to the registered amendment, to which Europa Press has had access, the majority shareholder proposes a new provision to mandate the Government to carry out the necessary actions within a period of six months to extend this maximum distance between generators and consumers in shared self-consumption facilities.