"Although renewables are available, energy in Spain is not competitive for industry compared to neighbouring markets," says Pedro González, Managing Director of the Association of Energy-Intensive Companies (AEGE). Despite the market recording a high number of hours with prices close to 0/MWh or even negative, and solar PPAs being signed below 35/MWh, structural costs push the final price above levels seen in France or Germany. According to the Energy Barometer, the average daily market price in Spain for 2025 stands at 66.4/MWh.
However, the final cost for industry including balancing services (13.91/MWh) and charges and taxes (4.52/MWh) reaches 58.28/MWh, compared to 23.29/MWh in France, where regulated tariffs and greater compensations apply. As highlighted by the Managing Director in a conversation with Strategic Energy Europe, the flexibilisation of energy contracting has long been considered key to improving the competitiveness of large industrial consumers in Spain. The proposal aims to enable physical contracts with more than one supplier, which "could facilitate the signing of more PPAs and promote longer-term contracting focused on renewable products." Currently, energy-intensive consumers can only contract with a single supplier per delivery point, limiting direct agreements with renewable developers. "It significantly restricts our contracting options and forces us to enter into financial PPAs," explains González, noting that direct linkage to the spot market exposes industrial consumers to gas and CO price volatility. The Government has a proposal pending approval recognising this right, which is expected to be passed in the second quarter of 2025. The executive emphasises that industrial competitiveness depends on contracts that allow consumers to differentiate themselves from European competitors, and he anticipates collaboration with clean energy operators. "Renewable energy can recover its investment costs and achieve profitability if decoupled from the electricity market price," he states, concluding: "Charge me what ensures your profitability, but decouple my contract price from the impact of natural gas and CO prices in the market."