Energy storage must cease to be a future promise and become a structural pillar of the Spanish electricity system. That was the call made by Enrique Pedrosa, COO Europe & Latam at Repsol Low Carbon Generation, during his remarks at Future Energy Summit Iberia 2025, held in Madrid.
“We consider storage to be strategic in every sense,” stated the Repsol executive, noting that it is key to enabling greater integration of renewables by providing flexibility and firmness to the system. In this context, he called for a regulatory and remuneration framework at the European level to ensure economic viability and rapid deployment.
Pedrosa pointed to an ambitious project the company is promoting: the repowering of the Aguayo pumped storage hydroelectric plant in Cantabria. Currently operating with 360 MW, the facility is expected to add an additional 1 GW. However, he warned that the project has faced significant delays in permitting, despite its minimal environmental impact and largely underground construction.
“We’re awaiting a new 50-year concession, which we hope to receive soon, but the permitting process has been long—excessively long, I would say,” the executive noted. The expansion of Aguayo—which would account for approximately 4.5% of the PNIEC’s 2030 storage goal—highlights the bottlenecks hindering the roll-out of such technologies, even in low-impact cases.
In this regard, Repsol is also advocating for the deployment of European-level capacity mechanisms that economically acknowledge the service provided by these technologies. “A plant that delivers flexibility and firmness to the system must receive clear price signals to ensure appropriate remuneration,” Pedrosa asserted, emphasising that this is not an exceptional demand, but a basic condition to attract investment.
Spain is currently designing its own capacity market, expected to come into force by 2026, in line with the EU’s reformed electricity market design. This mechanism is crucial for providing stable revenues to technologies that ensure electricity availability, such as storage. Yet the current regulatory landscape offers little certainty to investors.
Pedrosa’s position echoes that of other major players in the sector. During the same panel, representatives from EDP and Acciona Energía agreed that storage must evolve from merely supporting renewables to becoming a structural part of the system, underpinned by clear rules, long-term visibility and appropriate market signals.
At present, Spain has around 7 GW of pumped hydro storage capacity and fewer than 140 MW of electrochemical batteries. While various grant schemes and programmes such as the PERTEs have been announced, Pedrosa warned that the lack of continuity and regulatory clarity undermines their effectiveness. “This is not a mechanism that can be implemented solely at national level—it requires a European policy,” he explained.
In this context, Repsol maintains that decarbonisation must be approached from a technology-neutral perspective, integrating all solutions that can effectively contribute to the energy system. This means not only supporting the growth of renewables and storage, but also ensuring the presence of technologies capable of delivering firmness, operational flexibility and immediate response, alongside robust grid infrastructure to guarantee system stability.
He also stressed the need to consolidate a truly European energy market, structured around common rules that transcend national borders. “We believe there must be a European energy market at the core of decision-making,” emphasised the Repsol executive, noting that current fragmentation hinders large-scale investments and leaves Europe at a disadvantage compared to countries like the United States and China, which are already moving forward with integrated industrial strategies.
From a geostrategic perspective, Pedrosa highlighted the importance of reducing dependence on external technology components. “Reducing external dependency is crucial to putting renewables back at the centre of the equation,” he concluded.
0 Comments