Government approves regulation of electricity self-consumption

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The Council of Ministers regulated, through a Royal Decree, the administrative, technical and economic conditions for the supply and production of electricity self-consumption.

The Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism, José Manuel Soria, indicated that this legislation seeks to boost distributed generation - to bring the generation of electricity closer to its point of consumption - and give a "new boost" to renewable energies.

The text establishes two forms of self-consumption. The first consists of having facilities exclusively for self-consumption; this means that if more energy is produced than consumed, this surplus can be fed into the electricity grid but not sold.

The second form includes self-consumption plus sale; in other words, the surplus can be fed into the system and then sold; the conditions established for this include facilities having more than 100 kilowatts of power and that the vendors are registered in the Register of Electricity Producers. The price that the system will pay for this electricity "will be precisely the hourly price at the time at which it is fed into the system", said the minister.

Payments to the system and exemptions

In terms of its contribution to sustaining the electricity system, José Manuel Soria pointed out that self-consumers will pay neither the amount of the energy produced, nor VAT and the Special Tax on Electricity. Equally they will not have to assume any system cost if they are not connected to the electricity grid.

Pool Moncloa / J. M. CuadradoIn the event that they are, added the minister, the self-consumer will have to pay the transmission and distribution tolls for the electricity "to the extent that these are used". As regards the costs of the system - the amortisation of the accumulated electricity deficit up to 2013, incentives for renewable energies and support for the non-mainland systems, where generation is more expensive - the self-consumer "will contribute in the same way as any other consumer because these costs must be paid by the system regardless of whether one self-consumes or not", said José Manuel Soria. The same happens with the so-called 'support payments', since these are those that ensure energy can be obtained from the system when one needs to resort to the system at any given time.

The Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism explained that the Royal Decree establishes two exemptions from these payments. The first benefits all those self-consumers that have contracted power equal to or less than 10 kilowatts. The second applies to self-consumption facilities under island or non-mainland systems, since as they are 'energy islands' it is up to four times more expensive to produce electricity there than on the mainland, and hence, self-consumption is a way to reduce the average cost of production under these systems.

José Manuel Soria underlined that the report of the Council of State on the new legislation "confirms that this falls within the prevailing legal framework" and "it is wholly favourable in all aspects relating to the fact that the self-consumer must pay for tolls, the cost of the electricity system and the charges".

The Royal Decree provides for a term of six months for consumers, facilities and other agents to adapt to the new legislation.

Promotion of women in the rural environment

Pool Moncloa / J. M. CuadradoThe government has approved the Plan for the Promotion of Women in the Rural Environment 2015-2018. The Vice-President of the Government, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, highlighted that this is the first comprehensive plan to support women in the rural environment.

The initiative has a budgetary allocation of 23.1 million euros and has been drawn up on a consensual basis with practically all the ministerial departments and with dialogue with associations of women in the rural environment.

The plan includes 82 actions drafted in five areas: economy, employment and entrepreneurship; the presence of rural women in decision-making, conciliation and co-responsibility with family, work and personal life; the design of policies to boost the rural environment and increased awareness of their situation.

"Women that live in the rural environment are key for the sustainable development of our towns and our society and we must make an additional effort at plans to promote the equality of women in the rural environment", declared Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría.

Occupational risk prevention

Pool Moncloa / J. M. CuadradoThe Council of Ministers amended the Regulation on occupational risk prevention services to clarify certain aspects of the current regulation and, in particular, the accreditation of specialised entities from which companies can contract their preventive activities.

The Vice-President of the Government highlighted that this measure is another step forward towards market unity because it establishes a sole accreditation for the development of activities contracted in this area throughout the country. Moreover, the new legislation simplifies the accreditation procedure.

Along the same lines, the government approved the basic criteria for the organisation of resources to develop the healthcare aspect of the preventive service. The new legislation, which was ratified by the regional governments at the plenary session of the Inter-territorial Council of the National Health System back in July, seeks to clarify the requirements for these services.

Other agreements

• Commitment to spend more than 237 million euros by 2022 on rounds of subsidies and grants for the training, retraining and mobility of teaching staff.
• Continuity of the Consortium of the Underground Laboratory in Canfranc.
• Refurbishment and extension works on the El Tarajal health centre in the Autonomous City of Ceuta in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Current affairs

Pool Moncloa / J. M. CuadradoThe Vice-President of the Government described the cutting of the fibre-optic cable on a high-speed railway line in Catalonia on Thursday as an "extremely serious" act and stressed that the government will collaborate with and respect the judicial investigation that has been opened to determine the responsibilities that may exist in an act that could even be considered to be "sabotage".

As regards the conditions announced by the CUP [Popular Unity Candidature] to provide its support for the formation of a regional government in Catalonia, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría said that it is "striking" that the party seeks to generalise a programme rejected by the votes of the majority of the citizens. Moreover, she called for responsibility from Artur Mas so that democracy and co-existence are respected, because there are mechanisms to ensure that the law is upheld before which "all citizens are equal".

The Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism stated that, following the meeting with the new Chairman of Volkswagen, the latter confirmed that the company does not envisage any change in its investment plans at the group's Spanish factories in Navarre and in Martorell. The minister added that in Spain there are some 683,000 vehicles affected by the fraud that will be called in individually for a revision as from 1 January 2016.