The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge anticipates giving the green light shortly to the regulation that will launch the capacity market for the Spanish electricity system, once the approval of the European Commission has been obtained.
Sources from the department headed by Sara Aagesen thanked Brussels for "the intense work" carried out to verify that the Spanish capacity market proposal was "in accordance with European regulations on State aid and the internal electricity market" and emphasized that the Ministry "has advanced in the processing of the regulatory proposal in parallel with the conversations with the European Commission".
Generation facilities, storage systems, and demand itself – both consumers and aggregators – will participate in this scheme, receiving economic compensation for providing firmness to the electricity system, either by remaining available to inject energy into the grid or by reducing their consumption when necessary.
Taking as a reference the estimates of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC), it is calculated that this market will mobilize between 800 and 900 million euros per year, depending on the outcome of the auctions in which remuneration will be set. Its financing will come mainly from electricity marketing activities, with a greater contribution during peak hours for the system.
The same sources from the Ministry indicated that, with this mechanism, the aim is to guarantee demand coverage and send investment signals that facilitate the definitive incorporation of storage and demand management into the electricity system, moving in an orderly manner towards a carbon-neutral economy.