Next year, the Galician Energy Marketing Company, promoted by the joint company Resources of Galicia (RDG) – in which Xunta participates – will begin operating, with which it is expected to reduce the price by an average of 50% energy. in communities close to the infrastructures that produce it. It is, as explained by the Minister of Economy and Industry, María Jesús Lorenzana, in the presentation this Wednesday, one of the three key instruments of energy policy that the Galician Government is promoting during of this legislature, with the law on natural resources of Galicia – which will be approved this month in Parliament – and its planning. The objective is none other than to move towards “energy autonomy”, reducing its price, both for families and for businesses in Galicia and guaranteeing, at the same time, the competitive advantage of the economic fabric of the Community.
With this transformation of the use of natural resources into social wealth, individuals and companies will benefit, but always assuming that the company will sell 100% of its energy to Galician consumers, as the councilor explained. On the one hand, the intention is that citizens who live in a renewable energy production infrastructure environment – such as a wind farm – move from the status of “affected” to that of “benefit” from their proximity to this resource. There are still many details to be worked out, but according to initial estimates, on average, RDG hopes to be able to reduce the price of energy by 50% compared to the market price.
It will work “like any marketer”» underlined Lorenzana, calling individuals to inform them that they are close to energy production infrastructure and that they could benefit from a cheaper price. “If you are interested in change, you will manage it [la comercializadora]“It’s as simple as that,” he explained. This proximity radius will however depend on many factors, such as production, but we will try to reach the maximum number of people while maintaining a significant discount.
For its part, intervention with industries or businesses will no longer be limited to a nearby radius, but to the entire Community. According to the head of Economy and Industry, the idea is “democratize” access to fixed and more competitive prices for the Galician economic fabric. This issue is currently regulated by power purchase agreements or PPAs, in which a fixed price is agreed for a certain period between the electricity supplier and the industry. A mechanism accessible only to certain industries with high energy consumption, and this is precisely what the marketer aims to mitigate: reaching the rest of the companies, from self-employed workers to SMEs or large companies, which otherwise would not be able to negotiate this type of advantageous agreement.
A complex, “medium-long term” project, as explained in the presentation of the CEO of Galicia Resources, Emilio Bruquetaswhich aims to “guarantee a competitive advantage not only today, but also in the years to come”. Currently, the procedures for launching the marketing company and the business plan are being finalized, and the idea, he continued, is that “by the beginning of 2025 they will be finalized” . to start selling “100% Galician and 100% renewable” energy. However, as Lorenzana pointed out, for the development of the sector and to reach the maximum number of consumers, it is “essential that renewable energies are released” in the Community, including offshore wind, which, “from a quantitative point of view, will considerably increase the percentage of renewable energy” and allow further progress in the “energy autonomy” of Galicia.
“First and only”
All this through a marketing company that is “the first and only” in Spain with these characteristics, as defended by the minister. On the one hand, he indicated, it is possible to complete the cycle, from production to marketing of energy, since RDG will participate partially or totally in the projects. In addition, It is part of “a whole” with natural resource planning and resource law. A “legal framework” which explains, among other things, the requirement to impact the resource used on citizens, which the RDG marketer, by working directly with the promoters, will be able to justify in an “obvious, clear and simple” way. ” path. .
As the advisor pointed out, the can veto any project that does not meet the public interest of Galicia. Furthermore, when questioned by the media, he also responded to the opposition’s accusations regarding the chosen public-private model, defending that it is the option that presents the least risk for society. What the BNG – a public energy company – is proposing is “that the Xunta brings its own funds from the taxes of the Galicians to finance these projects”, but its executive, he continued, managed to bring Galician companies to risk their capital in such projects. an innovative project that is only just beginning. Neither the public is good by nature, nor the private is bad, said the head of the branch.
