Spain has approved an energy-saving plan that could cut natural gas demand by up to 13.5% by March 2023, the government said on Tuesday. In July, Spain agreed to a target of cutting natural gas consumption by 7%, less than half the agreed EU target of a 15% cut from August to March 2023. However, Madrid’s new plan could reduce fossil fuel use by 5.1-13.5% compared with the average over the past five years – bringing Spain’s goals more in line with the EU target. The country had a 10% drop in domestic natural gas demand in August and September, its ecological transition ministry said. However, this reduction did not include consumption from gas-fired plants producing power that was exported to Portugal and France.
Increase in exports
Power exports had risen due to a combination of low nuclear generation in France, less hydropower production in Portugal and an energy price cap in Iberia. Spain was covering 35% of Portuguese power demand, ministry data showed. The plan included 73 measures, including an extra EUR 500m to boost self-consumption and EUR 1bn for renewables, hydrogen and storage. A new line of financing would also be created for industry decarbonisation. Madrid said it was considering tax breaks to accelerate the energy transition. It also planned to increase flexibility in the grid plan to include more renewables after market participants complained about bottlenecks.