BERNSTEIN Utilities Daily – July 21st

Research evidence excerpt

BERNSTEIN Utilities Daily – July 21st

ables during grid overload. Industry groups BEE and BSW-Solar sharply criticised the

reforms, warning they threaten billions in investment and tens of thousands of jobs. Revised proposals soften earlier plans: projects

in bottleneck areas retain grid access if they waive curtailment payments, with thresholds raised to 5%, period forgoing remuneration

shortened to six years, and limits on unpaid curtailment set at 10-20% of output. Rooftop solar tariffs will continue at a lower rate

from 2027 and will be gradually phased down until 2030.

IBERIA

• Spain awards €165m to 2.1GW hydro pumping storage projects (Platts, El Economista). Spain has awarded €165m in funding

to seven pumped hydro storage projects, MITECO said July 20. The projects would add 2,071MW of capacity and provide just over

21GWh of daily storage capacity. The hydroelectric plants are in Andalusia, Asturias, Aragon, Extremadura, Catalonia, and Galicia, said

the ministry. Project promoters include EDP, Magtel, Iberdrola, Capital Energy, Villar Mir, Tasga and Aspiravi. EDP will receive €48.82m

for the La Barca reversible pumping project (354MW, 4,739MWh) while Iberdrola will receive €5m for Torreal II, in Alcántara, Cáceres.

It is the only project that will use existing infrastructure to enhance pumped-storage capacity. The project will add 33MW of turbine

power and 991MWh of storage.

• Spain and Algeria seal a strategic alliance to shield gas supplies (El Economista). Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez

and Algeria’s President Abdelmayid Tebune agreed to hold a bilateral summit in October, marking a new phase in relations, during

Sánchez’s visit to the country. Both leaders also discussed increasing gas flows to southern Europe via the Medgaz pipeline and LNG,