Moncloa expects to reduce its energy consumption by up to 13% by next winter. It will be, yes, through recommendations to houses and companies, and not through restrictions. Although Brussels has advocated restricting some aspects of our daily lives in order to use less electricity and gas, the executive Pedro Sanchez he flatly refused. The Transitional Ministry understood that Spain had already made enough efforts to become an energy island, and in addition, it was acting as center sending raw materials to the rest of the continent by metatankers, which are sent from Spanish regasification plants.

In general, Moncloa proposed to reduce energy consumption in the range from 5% to 13%, which was mentioned earlier. The tasks, according to sources at the Ministry of Ecological Transition, will depend on the level of awareness of companies and households.

To match the numbers this winter, Moncloa is going to launch an awareness campaign through its social media, media and in partnership with the private sector such as supermarkets or energy companies. Without going any further, electricity and gas retailers should change the bill to include recommendations for savings or to include average electricity consumption. same zip code where did you get the invoice from.

But, as sources in the energy sector emphasize, the launched recommendations are “just parrot chocolate”, that is, what households can save will not be enough to meet the government’s calculated percentages. And the fact is that, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Ecological Transition for 2019, only a quarter of the demand is at home.

According to Miteco, 47% came from the industrial sector. In this section, we can find large corporations of our country from all sectors of the economy, especially those that require a huge amount of energy to carry out their activities. 28% corresponds to consumers with a capacity of up to 10 kWh, among which the hospitality industry or small industry stands out.

Finally, 25% belongs to those who fall into at homebut also for small and medium businesses. In other words, there is also commercial activity in this subgroup, so the government’s recommendations will not be entirely effective.

Gas consumption

The same goes for gas. According to the report of the Ministry of Energy Transition, recently published Plan+ Energy Security, domestic consumption as well as small business consumption accounts for approximately 15% of the natural gas consumed in Spain. Ecological Transition emphasizes that “it is closely related to weather patterns, so its annual demand curve is a marked seasonal modulation, with higher consumption in winter and lower demand in the summer months.”

As for industry, this is the sector with the highest gas consumption in Spain, approximately 55-60% of total consumption. This group includes all major industries, cogeneration and the high consumption service sector. “Its evolution over a typical year is usually very labour-driven, with high consumption on weekdays and a sharp drop on public holidays,” Miteco explains.

It should be remembered that a significant part gas consumption in our country it is the generation of electricity through combined cycles. According to Enagás, the demand for these plants increased by 160% so far this year.

“The demand for gas from the Spanish electricity sector has increased mainly due to increased exports of electricity to neighboring countries, especially to France, as a result of the shutdown of part of the French nuclear park, and to Portugal, as a result of the low availability of hydro resources in Portugal,” explains in its report to the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

Companies will have no restrictions

Despite the fact that companies take over most of our country’s electricity and gas consumption, chief executive Pedro Sanchez insisted that there would be no need to forcibly limit demand in any sector.

However, the government has urged large companies to make public their strategic plans, which they are going to implement, in order to reduce energy consumption by up to 13% in the coming months. Yes, businesses and other businesses will have to continue to adjust to the legislation passed over the summer, such as adjusting the temperature, automatically closing doors or closing shop windows.