Carmen Becerril (Acciona) at ESADE: "The regulatory risk is one of the main risks faced by renewable energies"
"One of the main risks faced by renewable energies is the regulatory risk", explained Carmen Becerril, Acciona’s International General Manager, during a conference on "Renewable energies in a globalised world" held at ESADE. Becerril highlighted that Spain is a negative example of the legal uncertainty affecting the renewables industry and that "it is difficult to imagine investment in this field due to the low demand for electricity". The International General Manager went on to say that the revolution between now and 2050 will be in this industry, like the railway or mobile technology revolutions that happened before.
It’s important to remember that the UN General Assembly has declared 2014-2024 to be the decade of "sustainable energy for all" and that the energy industry will grow in emerging countries such as China and India, which will account for 49% of the demand for energy between 2011 and 2035, according to the International Energy Agency. "A good part of this demand will be met by renewables, which will also have to be the solution for the 1,500 million people with no access to energy", declared Becerril.
The cost of energy
Acciona’s international general manager believes it’s wrong to think that energy costs in Europe are one of the main reasons for the lack of international growth, and went on "we must reinvent ourselves and show that progress is compatible with our welfare state. Europe needs a new energy framework, not shale gas".
What’s more, in the renewables market there are no variable costs in the selling price, although costs are all at the beginning when investment is made, and 20-25 years can go by between investing and receiving returns.
Although the renewables market is easily accessible and more socially acceptable, one of the main problems is that renewables are a volatile resource that cannot be stored.
Reliance on energy from Russia
Becerril emphasised that in general at present, the gas and 32% of the oil we consume are from Russia, so the conflict with that country could have an adverse effect.
She also pointed out the contradiction of aiming to reduce the use of coal from 41% in 2011 to 14% in 2035, because coal is precisely the resource most available to the new powers and the one they are most willing to use.
The challenge of not exceeding a two-degree increase in temperature in the 21st century and avoiding climate change are aims that must be taken into account in order "to approach future generations with clean forms of energy obtained from nature", concluded Carmen Becerril.
