The Efficient Energy Cluster of Catalonia celebrated this morning with the Photovoltaic Working Group of the CEEC the Statu Quo Photovoltaic day to discuss the current state of the sector and the challenges facing the field of photovoltaics in Catalonia The conference, which brought together more than 150 energy professionals and technicians at the Social Hub Barcelona, discussed topics of marked interest to the sector, such as domestic and collective self-consumption or photovoltaic parks on the ground of the main experts.

The manager of the CEEC, Francesc Ribera, was in charge of kicking off the day, which served as a "meeting point" for the sector and which had the will to continue promoting photovoltaics "despite the uncertainties ". While reviewing the program of the event, Ribera highlighted the "collaboration" to boost the energy market and the importance of land parks "which must be a driving force for a more sustainable future".

Next, it was the turn of the director of Energy, Daniel Pérez, with a presentation in which he analyzed the precedents of the sector, with the "perfect storm" that caused the crisis in energy prices year 2022, and referred to some of the actions needed to meet the challenge of decarbonisation. Pérez has pointed out the reduction of energy consumption, electrification, the implementation of more renewables, storage and demand management as the main actions to carry out to keep moving forward.

With reference to the need to grow in renewables, Pérez wanted to make it clear that it is not a problem of available surface, giving as an example the reduction of 97 thousand hectares of cultivation that occurred between 2001 and 2009 in Catalonia. "Photovoltaic only needs 90,000", he replied. In this sense, Pérez also referred to the positive impact that a greater presence of renewables in the territory would have "to attract industry". "Neither H2med, nor electrical interconnection with France, what is needed is to electrify the ports and become an exporting power, exporting industrial products", he affirmed, while also pointing out the need to solve the "pending subject" of electrification rail transport.

Once the presentation was finished, the debate tables began, the first of which was about self-consumption. In it, the director of the Barcelona Energy Agency, Cristina Castells, took part as speakers; the Director of Infrastructure and Energy of Mercabarna, Marc Vilà; ENGIE's head of Distributed Solar, Storage and Green Mobility, Maria Colom; and the head of the ICAEN Renewable Energies Area, Francesc Vidal.

The speakers have agreed to point out the slowness of permitting or processing as one of the major barriers to self-consumption in Catalonia. Colom gave as an example a 10 MW project that his company presented in 2022 and which is still pending approval. "It's a long time. The administration should speed up the process", he commented. To this fact is added the drop in the price of energy, which also worries the promoters due to the drop in the profitability of the projects it is causing. "The price is going down a bit and so is the appeal. It remains competitive but it will cost us more", commented Vilà, who reported on the Repower Mercabarna project to promote self-generation in its facilities.

The second round table focused on collective self-consumption and energy communities. Moderated by the CEO of KM0 Energy, Santi Martínez, the debate had the participation of the engineer in the New Generation Projects team of Som Energia, Carles Adell; the third deputy mayor of Caldes de Montbui City Council, Jordi Martín; the CEO of Adymus Energy, Rafael Ruiz, and Greenpeace's Head of Self-Consumption and Energy Communities, Maria Prado.

In this table, the processing has once again been one of the main topics on the part of the speakers, due to the slowness in the implementation of the projects. In this regard, the head of the Caldes Montbui town hall, which has the largest energy community in Catalonia to date, has regretted not having been "more ambitious" with the amount of installed power requested, taking into account the that it took to get it up and running. For his part, Prado has denounced the obstacles of the distributors to connect the energy communities to the network, and he wanted to highlight the role of the local energy agencies in Catalonia in mediation and support, which for many is still "one of the main barriers".

Finally, the last round table, moderated by the lawyer specialized in energy, Jorge Andrey, was dedicated to photovoltaic parks on land. The head of the Electrical Installations Authorization Service, Míriam Ripoll, took part as speakers; the director of Energy of Sorigué, Ignasi Clariana; the Director General of Sunowatt – UNEF, Salvador Salat; and Maria Crehuet of the Association of Microtowns of Catalonia.

Ripoll began by talking about the data on the implementation of this type of parks, taking as a temporary reference the Decree-Law to accelerate the deployment of renewable energies of 2021. "We came from a paralysis: before the Decree-Law we had 93 MW in solar and now we already have 1700 MW authorized", he said, adding that almost 3900 MW are in the process. Despite these data, the rest of the speakers have been critical of the pace of implementation of the parks to reach the set objectives as well as the delay in their processing. Clariana has attributed it to the "lack of leadership" and the "lack of capacity of the administration", while Salat has gone further pointing out "the political structure". For his part, Creheut has questioned whether a context like the current one, where the need to speed up large renewable projects prevails, is good for the environmental and social balance.

To close the day, the coordinator of the Photovoltaic Working Group, Alberto Barriga, intervened to make a summary of the event, providing some of the conclusions, and encouraging participation in the group. "We will continue to push because we believe in the potential for change in photovoltaics both in the industrial and environmental spheres", he said.