Community of Madrid, Andalusia and the Basque Country they have the worst electricity balance in our country. In other words, these are the regions that consume the most electricity month after month and, in turn, generate the least.

This Monday, representatives of the autonomies will meet with Minister of Energy Transition Teresa Ribera to discuss an energy saving plan. The measures proposed by Moncloa were heavily criticized by some autonomous communities. It so happened that those who hardened their message against Moncloa were the most They are the ones that require the most energy. and those that can generate the least, according to data extracted from Redeia’s (Red Eléctrica) annual electricity balance.

In this way community of madrid the leader in the CCAA rating is the one who consumes the most electricity per year, and the one that generates the least. According to data provided by this newspaper, in the region energy balance negative about 26 million billion cubic meters (trillion cubic meters).

In particular, the Community of Madrid is requesting about 27 million cubic meters. This, according to sources from the energy sector, is due to the large number of people who accumulate near the capital and, above all, to large-scale industry, which settles on the outskirts. “Madrid has an airport, factories, a large transport network, train stations, buses and hospitals. In terms of electricity, this is a gigantic geographic area,” they emphasize.

Isabelle Diaz Ayuso became the first regional president to raise her voice against the plan approved last week. The politician gave assurances that closing shop windows or reducing heating would “cause insecurity and poverty” in the Community of Madrid, and consequently hinted that he would take action to the Constitutional Court.

The same thing happens with Andalusia. But this time with nuances. Unlike the Community of Madrid, this autonomy manages to produce more electricity thanks to its extensive photovoltaic and wind farms or combined cycle infrastructure. However, the population factor is too important. The southern region is the region with the largest population and causes a negative electrical balance of 10 million billion cubic meters, as it requires up to 39 million billion cubic meters to supply it. flare up. Like Madrid, the Board already confirmed this week that it is going to look “in detail” at the measures proposed by the executive branch.

President’s advisor, Antonio Sanz, indicated that the government should correct the provisions adopted after the process of dialogue with the Autonomous Communities. For politicians, Moncloa’s measures are “created from improvisation and do not take into account the various features and realities” of the autonomous communities.

Euskadi is the third region with the worst energy balance. The Basque Country has gone much further and announced that it has developed and planned an alternative energy plan to that of the government and that it will be launched next September. The Autonomous Community requested a total of 15 billion cubic meters in 2021, however it could only produce about 6 million cubic meters. The region continues to work hard to create new renewable energy facilities, hand in hand with Iberdrola or Repsol. But the industry’s heavy weight in its economy means it must currently require energy to be able to survive day in and day out.

The Valencian Community or Catalonia, two autonomous communities that have so far not rejected the government’s energy conservation measures, also have a negative energy balance. In the case of the Levantine region, the figures are very similar to those of the Basque Country, and its annual dependency is 10 million billion cubic meters.

When Catalonia It’s different. This region consumes the most energy from the electricity market (44 million cubic meters), ahead of Andalusia, but its weight in non-renewable energy balance your energy needs.

In other words, the region uses the advantages of its generation in technologies such as nuclear and combined cycles in order to avoid interregional exchanges. Catalonia, according to Red Eléctrica, has a negative balance of 5 million cubic meters per year.

Empty Spain Supports the Great Autonomous Communities

But if large autonomous communities, due to economic and demographic weight, are unable to generate electricity, Empty Spain takes care of providing energy to the rest of Spain. Extremadura, Castile-La Mancha, Castile-and-Leon and Aragon are the regions that produce the most and need the least.

“These are extremely large areas, and they also have optimal conditions for installing photovoltaic or wind power plants. They are a great source of energy in our country,” emphasize various sources in the energy sector consulted by this newspaper.

Extremadura is a great example. In 2021, it produced almost as much electricity as the Community of Madrid needs and only needed 5 billion cubic meters to cover its needs. Castile and Leon For example, autonomy more renewable energy is produced with a total volume of 24 million cubic meters per year, barely requesting 12 billion cubic meters per year from the system. In a similar position is the land of Don Quixote, which has a positive balance of 11 million cubic meters. Finally, Aragon contributes a total of 18 billion cubic meters of electricity to the Spanish electricity system.

emergency meeting

Despite all the controversy in the field of energy, the government decided to convene an Energy Sector Conference this Monday to review the details of the Royal Decree-Law on Sustainability, Savings and Measures to improve the efficiency of dependency reduction, together with top regional officials in energy, industry and trade from natural gas in the context of the war in Ukraine approved on Monday by the Council of Ministers.

The executive is thus backtracking after criticism from regional leaders for a lack of consensus in preparing the plan, including from the President of the Community of Madrid, who has demanded a “top-level” appointment as one will finally come.