Following the appointment of Fátima García Señán as the new Deputy Director General for Storage and Flexibility at the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), the Business Association of Batteries, Storage, and Accumulators (AEPIBAL) met with the executive team to review the main points of interest in the sector.

The president of the association, Luis Marquina, highlighted the importance of creating this new Deputy Directorate General, calling it “a crucial step to address the challenges ahead in the sector,” also recognizing the suitability of García Señán’s appointment to lead this new area within MITECO.

The meeting was also attended by the vice president of AEPIBAL, Eugenio Domínguez Amarillo, along with their team, which includes Chema Zabala López, Sabrina Ratzlaff Pérez, and José Manuel Menéndez.

This meeting was a significant milestone for the sector, as it helped establish a roadmap to guide collaboration between both parties in the development and consolidation of energy storage in the country.

In an interview with Energía Estratégica España, Marquina emphasized the collaborative approach and the willingness shown by the new Deputy Directorate General.

“It is important that the Ministry serves as a guide for the Autonomous Communities to prevent the issue in Asturias from spreading,” the executive stressed, referring to the regulatory challenges faced by the community following the proposed regulation restricting the installation radius to one kilometer from population centers and 500 meters from livestock facilities or native forests. (See note)

Here, doubts arise about the prioritization of hybrid plants, which has generated uncertainty. This highlights the urgency of finding coordinated solutions at the national level.

Marquina also emphasizes the importance of shortening processing times for winning projects from auctions: “The need to shorten the processing times for winning projects from the various auctions is crucial, and on all the points we raised, the ministry is working on them.”

During the meeting, other technical issues affecting the progress of the storage sector were discussed, such as difficulties related to access to the electrical grid, the operation of storage facilities, and the markets in which they can participate.

The updated National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) sets a capacity of 22.5 GW, with about 12 GW allocated to battery storage, representing a great opportunity for the sector but posing a considerable challenge in terms of time and coordination.

Looking ahead to 2025, both AEPIBAL and MITECO see this year as a turning point for energy storage in Spain. “2025 will be a key year for storage, and we are convinced that a great step forward has been taken,” said Marquina.

Collaboration between the private sector and the government will be essential to achieving storage capacity goals, and the new Deputy Directorate General will play a crucial role in this process.