The president of the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), Cani Fernández, has remarked that "gas infrastructures in Spain are demonstrating strategic value", especially in the current geopolitical scenario, and has insisted that renewable gases play an "increasingly relevant" role, giving the country "a particularly valuable position".
During her speech at the Sedigás Annual Meeting, Fernández recalled that Spain, in addition to having "consolidated infrastructures and diversified entry capacity", has "significant potential" to promote new energy supplies through biomethane.
In this regard, she highlighted biomethane as a gas "integrable into the existing gas system, with the possibility of injecting it into the grid without the need for major additional infrastructure developments", which, in her opinion, makes it "a realistic and usable opportunity from now on".
Regarding its deployment, she pointed out that at the beginning of this year the country had 23 biomethane production plants injecting into the grid, with a capacity of over one terawatt-hour (TWh) per year, and announced that by 2026, 46 new plants are expected to come into operation, which will add an additional capacity of 4.6 TWh per year.
However, she recalled that the update of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) sets a biogas production target of 20 TWh for 2030, which, as she stressed, highlights the significant growth potential that the sector still has.
CIRCULARS FOR THE SECTOR
On the regulatory front, Fernández explained that the CNMC's role is to issue regulatory signals that "help identify what infrastructures the system needs, what services should continue to be provided, and how they should be maintained", referring to the various circulars currently being processed.
In this context, she referred to the circulars on the financial remuneration applicable to gas activities for the period 2027-2032, which have already passed the public consultation phase and which, she added, will continue their processing once the analysis and evaluation of the allegations are completed, subsequently submitting them to the Council of State.
"With these proposals, what we are trying to do is give continuity to current methodologies while we perfect them, adapting them to the new economic context, introducing incentives linked to renewable gases, to the adequate maintenance of infrastructures or to digitalization, cybersecurity or emission control," he stated.
The president of the CNMC insisted that gas infrastructures "are demonstrating strategic value," although she warned that this value "cannot be taken for granted." Therefore, she called on companies, the sector, and the regulator to continue working on their conservation, on efficient use, and on their adaptation to the new demands of the energy system.