Following the new operational framework that came into effect in June, the CHP specialists are preparing for a new investment cycle. The country will need to make its facilities more flexible, digitalize and decarbonize to provide them with greater efficiency, competitiveness and employment opportunities.
ACOGEN held its General Assembly in Madrid under the motto “Cogeneration: management and transformation –Markets, digitalization and decarbonization-”. During the General Assembly, José Ignacio Castillo was appointed president of ACOGEN, following the end of Rubén Hernando’s term of office.
In his speech, José Ignacio Castillo defined 2024 as a key year for cogeneration and the start of a new phase for the sector and the associated industry, which has had a new operational framework in place since last June and is preparing for heavy investments. “We, cogeneration companies, are embarking on a new cycle to continue making a decisive contribution to the industrial economy and energy systems, providing efficiency, competitiveness and sustainability,” said Castillo.
The The heat-intensive industry is in the process of adapting on the new operational framework adopted in June; a framework that provides certainty for more effective and integrated management of energy and industrial production.
Now the industry has regulated rewards that are updated every three months, adjusting them to the volatility of the markets and allowing for planning. ensure better risk management. The new methodology reflects the prices of the electricity, fuel and CO2 markets more efficiently and reliably.
Cogeneration requires transition measures
The energy crisis has delayed the auction framework for 1,200 MW of cogeneration, which was processed by MITERD three years ago; time in which 25% of cogeneration (more than 145 factories with a total capacity of 1,100 MW) the regulated period of use has ended and is unremunerateda figure that will rise to 50% in the next two years, leading the country to serious industrial decline.
ACOGEN and COGEN Spain promote, both in the Congress of Deputies and in the Government, an urgent transitional measure to extend for two or more years the compensation for the operation of power stations that have exhausted their legal life, so that they maintain its competitive operation until investments are made in the auctions. A measure with the rank of law, supported by a majority of political parties and social and business organizations, which they hope will be voted on in the Congress of Deputies in the coming weeks.
Loose cogeneration works hand in hand with MITERD so that the investment framework for cogeneration of 1,200 MW through auctions, the processing of which officially resumed on October 15, becomes reality in the first months of 2025, after three years of delay due to the energy crisis.
More than 200 cogeneration companies are waiting for the auctions This will mobilize €800 million of investments in cogeneration alone, which will be a driving force to kick-start industrial production in Spain and achieve greater investments in industrial production capacities. Moreover, they will encourage investments in other technologies and multi-energies for flexibility and decarbonization of industries.
New president for cogeneration
The General Assembly appointed José Ignacio Castillo as the new president of ACOGEN. Born in Huesca, he is an industrial engineer, specialized in mechanics, from the Higher Technical School of Industrial Engineers of Zaragoza. He has developed his entire professional career at the Aragonese multinational paper company Saica, always in positions of responsibility in the field of energyto this day, when he is Director of Energy of the Saica Group and member of the Management Committee of the Paper Business Area. He is also a member of the Energy Committee of ASPAPEL and a member of the Board of Directors of the General Community of Users of the Imperial Canal of Aragon.
Markets and the new framework
The roundtable debated the management of the markets in the new operational framework, with speakers highlighting the changes and new opportunities in the market market management after the publication of the regulatory frameworkas well as the industrial transformation underway to achieve more flexible and comprehensive operation in new markets and available products.
As Rubén Hernando, Managing Director of DS Smith’s Southern European Paper Division, points out, “the new rules, coupled with a correct coverage policy, allow us to provide stability and predictability to the industrial sector, mitigating the effects of an abrupt increase fuel prices are limited.” . For Carmen Soldado, director of Local Energy Consulting, “the new Regulation has brought predictability to plants. We can work with a known reward and mainly published at the beginning of each quarter.”
Daniel Fernández, Director of Institutional Relations, Communications and Regulation of ENGIE, noted that “Many regulatory developments are required to achieve the objectives of the PNIEC that increase the demand for electricity and stimulate the development of networks, thus significantly accelerating the path of decarbonization.
Cogeneration will undoubtedly have a lot to say in these times real industrial revolution”. While Gabriel Aguiló, Director of Energy and Producer Management at AXPO, emphasized in his speech that “the flexibility of the factories will be crucial, in the present and in the future.”
The cogeneration units currently manage the 7% of electricity generation and supplying 15% of the nation’s gas, producing 20% of the country’s industrial GDP.
Progress on decarbonization and digital transformation
The General Manager of ACOGEN, Javier Rodríguez, was in charge of explaining the continued evolution of the cogeneration in terms of the digital transformation and decarbonizationa result of the commitment of cogeneration industries to integrate multi-assets and multi-energies to achieve green digitalization.
The CHP is prepared for renewable gases and H2is hybrid and can make its operation more flexible and digital, so that its industries – more than 90% in continuous operation and more than 60% SMEs – generate and supply their energy at all times in the most competitive way possible.
Today, heat-intensive industries are turning to a wide range of ‘mature technologies’ – already in investment and exploitation – as well as other ‘technologies in development’ – with a lot of study activity – in to realize de-carbonized industries and cogeneration: Photovoltaic panels, biogas, biomethane, biomass, electric boilers and heat pumps, H2, thermal storage, capture and use of CO2 and electrical storage, will be combined with cogeneration in our factories.
Honor Cogenerator 2024
during the action The Cogenerator of Honor 2024 award was presented to José María Roqueta, in recognition of his valuable contribution to the values, technology and promotion of cogeneration in Spain.
His intellectual and business activities as Doctor of Engineering and founder of AESA Engineering in 1981 have been furthered high-efficiency energy solutionsespecially in the field of cogeneration and energy recovery from biomass and waste, and contributes to energy projects that demonstrate a strong commitment to the industrial economy, society and the planet.
His leadership as President of AESA and founder of COGEN Spain has been fundamental to the progress of the knowledge and development of cogeneration in Spain and in other countries, decisively influencing the awareness of regulators and public opinion.
The cogeneration units work together with the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, so that the 1,200 MW investment framework through auctionsin which investments will take place that will exceed 800 million euros, will become reality early next year.