The Spanish electric sector has claimed the strategic deployment of data centers in Spain as a lever for economic growth and digital autonomy, warning that putting obstacles to these infrastructures will cause capital to move to other countries.
During the Congress of the Association of Electric Energy Companies (Aelec), the CEOs of Endesa, Gianni Armani; of Iberdrola Spain, Mario Ruiz-Tagle; and of EDP Spain, Duarte Bello, agreed on the need to decisively advance investments in electrical networks to accompany the arrival of this new intensive demand and ensure an electrification that they consider decisive for the industrial competitiveness of Spain.
In this line, the CEO of EDP Spain, Duarte Bello, appealed not to waste this investment cycle and to overcome the doubts and fears that 'data centers' still awaken.
"I believe that as a country, Spain has to understand that this is an opportunity for transformation and growth. If this does not happen here, it will happen elsewhere and that demand will be lost forever, since data centers can move to other places and their investment can too. We have to embrace this opportunity in Spain and Portugal, set conditions for this new demand, but not conditions that tell investors to go somewhere else," he emphasized.
For his part, the CEO of Endesa, Gianni Armani, stressed that data centers are an "essential infrastructure" to ensure control of future productivity and leadership in critical technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), and stated that "it will not be Spain that can stop that process." "Therefore, putting up barriers is a way that delays the opportunity for economic development in Spain and we are going to lose the opportunity we have now," he asserted.
In the same line, the CEO of Iberdrola Spain, Mario Ruiz-Tagle, warned of the risk of ceding sovereignty over data management if these strategic facilities end up being built in other territories.
"Data centers, if we don't have them in Spain, we will have them abroad. Conflict will increase, anything that is narrow in trade routes will be a problem; therefore, let us not be dependent on fossil fuels and let us not be dependent on data coming from abroad," he asserted, emphasizing that these large digital clients are already contracting clean energy for periods of between 10 and 15 years to fix their operating costs.
The top executives of three of the main distributors in the country also insisted that the current electrical grid must be urgently reinforced and expanded with a significant volume of investment that anticipates future needs.
Likewise, Armani stressed the importance of reducing the costs associated with complementary services through a joint shock plan that allows for maximum integration of renewables without jeopardizing the firmness of the system.
"We also need to understand the firm capacity we need in 20 years; now we have gas and nuclear, there are batteries, but they have a very different marginal cost, and the annual cost of a battery to ensure security is not comparable to the firm capacity we have now. We need to be clear about this, as it requires long-term investments," he detailed.
Regarding nuclear energy, Armani, who described the extension of the useful life of Almaraz as a "fair decision," called for "a longer-term vision" for this technology and proposed it in a "rational manner."
Renewable Advantage and Costs of Complementary Services
The executive from Endesa highlighted the competitive advantage of Spain thanks to renewable energies, which have allowed the market to protect consumers by more than 3 billion euros in the first half of the year compared to other European markets, maintaining rates and offering fixed prices that have barely reflected the increase in gas prices. "This will be more than double by the end of the year. It's a very big opportunity," he stated, adding that the free market is "much more protected than the regulated one, and this says a lot about the level of efficiency of the Spanish market."
At the same time, he defended the implementation of measures and a "shock plan" to reduce the cost of complementary services, which he estimated "will be more than the entire cost of the distribution network."
On the other hand, Ruiz-Tagle emphasized that electrification and digitalization constitute the true industrial engine of the 21st century, which requires simplifying and accelerating administrative procedures so that projects arrive on time.
"What we need are companies of size, to advance in technology, to have visibility and legal security, and the digitalization of networks. We need agility in permits; we have the volume to invest and the financing. If we take ten years on permits, there will be no industry that will want to settle here. There is an expression that is talent, and not to turn it into 'it's slow,'" he ironized.
Lower the tax burden and accelerate electrification
Ruiz-Tagle also called for a national effort to reduce the tax pressure that electricity bears, pointing out that the most effective way to accelerate the transition is through a regulatory framework that allows "to transit more and tax less."
He recalled that the Spanish industry currently faces a higher taxation than the European average, so he advocated promoting long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) as the most suitable tool to definitively detach companies from the volatility of the gas market.
In turn, Duarte Bello stressed that, although Spain today has a rate of 24% of its electrified economy, it is essential to give maximum priority to this process to consolidate the competitive advantages achieved in recent years."