Tuesday. 19.03.2024
ENERGY CRISIS

Government approves energy security plan to reduce consumption

The new strategy adopts efficiency and savings measures, promotes renewable energies and reinforces industrial capacity
10/11/2022. (L-R) The Deputy Prime Minister of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera; the Minister of Territorial Policy and Government spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez, and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, have appeared at a press conference after the meeting of the Council of Ministers. Photo: La Moncloa.
The Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera; the Minister of Territorial Policy and Government spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez, and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, at a press conference after the meeting of the Council of Ministers. Photo: La Moncloa.

The Spanish Council of Ministers approved Tuesday the so-called More Energy Security Plan (+SE).

According to government information, this new strategy seeks to "strengthen the protection of citizens against the rise in prices" caused by the war in Ukraine, within the framework of the European commitment to save energetic.

With this new strategy, the Madrid government also intends to reduce gas consumption, improve energy autonomy, increase the competitiveness of the economy and increase energy exports.

Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge Teresa Ribera said that the plan will be updated, given the uncertainty of the war and its consequences, and a monthly report will be published of monitoring the efficiency of the measures and savings in electricity and gas.

The plan includes 73 "energy security" measures that pursue six major goals: savings and efficiency; transformation of the energy system; extension of protection to citizens, especially the vulnerable; fiscal measures; transformation of the industry through renewable energies or hydrogen, and solidarity with the rest of the European countries.

Social bonuses

To protect the population, the coverage of the electric social bonus and the thermal social bonus will be expanded, increasing the volume of the protected population.

The bill of 1.6 million households with community boilers will also be reduced with a view to next winter and families will have fiscal support to implement renewable air conditioning systems, cost allocators in centralized heating will be encouraged and smart natural gas meters will be installed.

In the field of savings and efficiency, awareness campaigns will be carried out, the Central Administration's Savings Plan will be extended to the rest of the administrations, and there will be a program to replace public lighting. SMEs will have the support of the ICO to implement renewables and saving measures.

Other measures include promoting solar rooftops, energy communities and self-consumption, and streamlining the processing of renewable projects. Likewise, support for the industry and the reinforcement of the capacities of the energy transition will be increased, with an increase of 1,000 million to the allocation of the PERTE of Renewable Energies, Renewable Hydrogen and Storage, and a new PERTE of Decarbonization of the Industry.

Government approves energy security plan to reduce consumption