The Energy Plan for Navarra plans to mobilise 2,300 million euros by 2026

A:   EDUARDO BUXENS 
F:  21 JUNIO 2023
L:   AIN , CORDOVILLA
T:    FORO DESCARBONIZACIÓN DE LA INDUSTRIA

It also envisages that the region’s energy consumption will be 50% renewable and that 100% of the electricity consumed in the region will come from non-polluting and renewable sources by the end of the decade. The programme was presented at the 2nd Industry and Energy Forum, organised by the Navarre Industrial Association (AIN) in collaboration with the Government of Navarra.

The 2nd Industry and Energy Forum, organised by the Industry Association of Navarre (AIN) in collaboration with the Government of Navarre’s Directorate-General for Industry, Energy and Strategic Projects S4, was the venue for the presentation of the Energy Plan for Navarre. Among other objectives, the plan aims to ensure that energy consumption in Navarre is 50% renewable, compared to the current 25%, and that 100% of the electricity consumed in the region comes from renewable energies by 2030.

The event was opened by Mikel Irujo, acting Regional Minister for Economic and Business Development of the Government of Navarre, who pointed out that the fundamental pillars for the ecological transition are “the increased generation of renewable energies, the promotion of self-consumption and energy efficiency”.

For his part, the commissioner for the strategic project for the recovery and economic transformation (PERTE) of industrial decarbonisation in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Luis Colunga, presented the objectives for the development of the plan, articulated in two axes: to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and their associated emissions. The planned actions will be carried out between 2023 and 2026, although the projects could be extended beyond that date. Colunga anticipated that “1.47 billion euros will be mobilised in the form of subsidies and 1.7 billion euros in credits at very attractive interest rates for the industry”. Overall, it is expected that the global measures of the PERTE “will help to decarbonise 12 million tonnes/year and mobilise 12,000 million euros of private investment in Spain”.

THE NAVARRA 2023 ENERGY PLAN

The engineer of the Energy area at AIN, José Mari Sotro, presented, on the other hand, the revision of the Navarra Energy Plan Horizon 2030, which has been updated after its initial drafting in 2018. The main strategic objectives associated with the PEN are to reduce GHG emissions by 55 % by 2030, as well as to reach a 50 % contribution of renewable energies in total final energy consumption and 100 % of electricity consumption.

Finally, the event concluded with speeches by Eduardo Ryan, Iberdrola’s northern distribution delegate, and Ana Ursúa, AIN’s general manager. The former explained the need to accompany the deployment of electricity grids with the existing drive for generation and decarbonisation projects. “Iberdrola ended 2021 with investments amounting to 31 million euros. And this level must be sustained if we want to meet the volume of demand that the company is receiving in access to distribution networks,” said Ryan.

Meanwhile, the second speaker stressed the importance for the industry “to work actively” in energy management, “a trend that began in the 80s” and that “has been evolving with the industry and incorporating issues such as renewable hydrogen, hybridisation or storage”.

Source: Diario de Navarra