Natural gas accounts for around 22% of primary energy consumption in Spain and is a determining factor for the competitiveness of an industrial fabric that contributes nearly 17% of national GDP, especially in medium and high-temperature processes, where there is no comparable alternative in terms of efficiency and cost. In addition, up to 8 million households and a total of 20 million consumers use it to cover basic needs such as heating or hot water.
The Spanish gas infrastructure constitutes one of the country's main strategic assets. With a meshed, diversified, and resilient network, with nearly 100,000 kilometers of transport and distribution, regasification plants, underground storage facilities, and international interconnections that place it among the most robust in Europe. It is an asset that has demonstrated its relevance in crisis situations and that, in the future, will act as a backbone for the deployment of renewable gases, where Spain has one of the greatest production potentials in the European Union.
The Spanish gas infrastructure constitutes one of the country's main strategic assets
The gas system performs a key function within our energy strategy: guaranteeing security of supply and providing the flexibility increasingly required by an energy mix with increasingly present renewable sources. Its capacity to manage demand peaks, absorb seasonal variations, and adapt operations in a matter of hours —thanks to an infrastructure that integrates underground storage, LNG reserves in tanks, and a meshed grid with high modulation capacity— is irreplaceable. In the electrical system, gas-fired combined cycles provide the necessary backup for renewable intermittency and the voltage control services that guarantee supply continuity with a response capacity that no other technology offers today on a large scale —a function that is even more critical in a context of reinforced operation following last year's blackout—.
Furthermore, gas infrastructures are called upon to play a fundamental role in the decarbonization of the economy, allowing the integration of renewable gases such as biomethane and hydrogen, which will provide greater energy autonomy while guaranteeing an efficient transition for the consumer. Energy transition, competitiveness, and strategic sovereignty are three principles that, in the current geopolitical context, go hand in hand in a European strategy in which gas infrastructures are a fundamental pillar for said strategy to be achievable.
A macroeconomic context that demands reasonable profitability
The second regulatory period 2021-2026 has coincided with one of the biggest financial tightenings of the last decade. The combination of the energy crisis and inflationary pressures forced the ECB to raise rates by 314 basis points from levels close to 0%, a shift that was fully transferred to the cost of capital. With an accumulated increase in the industrial price index close to 40% in five years, companies' operating costs have skyrocketed while the remuneration of all regulated activities in the gas sector decreased by 2,129 million euros in the period. In the current context, it is essential that regulation guarantees a reasonable profitability aligned with the real cost of capital, a principle that has not been met.
A key regulatory moment for the future of the sector
We are currently at a decisive moment in which the foundations are being laid that will determine the investment capacity, operation, and evolution of the gas system over the coming years. The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), after a period of public consultations, has published the draft circulars that will establish the remuneration for regulated gas activities —transport, regasification, and distribution— for the next six years. Preliminary analysis reveals positive elements: the adaptation of the remuneration framework to the new demand scenario, the recognition of increased costs in some elements, and the incorporation of incentives for network digitalization and the integration of renewable gases as major sector challenges. However, the objection period must serve to incorporate additional improvements and, in particular, to provide the remuneration framework with economic sufficiency, so that stakeholders can guarantee a reasonable return to face a period full of challenges, ensuring that our infrastructures are maintained and operated with full guarantees in a complex and volatile context.
A geopolitical scenario that reinforces the value of the gas system
The role of natural gas is revealed as especially decisive in moments of geopolitical tension like the current one. Instability in the Middle East and the exposure of the Strait of Hormuz —through which approximately one-third of global LNG transits— illustrate how any disruption in supply routes is immediately transferred to the markets in the form of price volatility and rising risk premiums.
The role of natural gas is revealed as especially determining in moments of geopolitical tension like the current one
In such a volatile and uncertain context, the diversification of supply sources and system resilience stand out as critical attributes. Both ultimately depend on the available infrastructure: effective diversification is only possible when there is a network capable of combining LNG and pipeline gas, with multiple origins, regasification plants, and international interconnections that allow for agile responses to any disruption. Precisely, the Spanish gas system constitutes a world reference example, having one of the most diversified and robust networks in Europe, capable of integrating global LNG supplies with pipeline flows, supported by ample regasification capacity and a meshed architecture that reinforces its resilience and operational flexibility.
Natural gas will continue to be, for the coming decades, an essential component of the Spanish energy system. Its contribution to industrial competitiveness, its role as a backup for the electricity system, the robustness of its infrastructure, and its capacity to integrate renewable gases make it an indispensable element for an efficient and balanced energy transition.
The coincidence of a demanding financial environment, a decisive regulatory process, and an uncertain geopolitical context grants current decisions a relevance that transcends the sector itself. The design of the new remuneration framework will determine the system's capacity to guarantee security of supply, facilitate the integration of new energy sources, and sustain the economy's competitiveness.
In this regard, it is fundamental to move towards a model that combines regulatory stability, reasonable profitability, and a vision based on technological neutrality. Only in this way will it be possible to ensure an energy system that is secure, competitive, and prepared to face the challenges of the future.