The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has approved five pilot projects that seek to accelerate the implementation of innovative solutions in distribution networks. These initiatives will allow new business models to be tested in a controlled environment, without current regulatory restrictions.

The selected initiatives have been well received by energy sector stakeholders. Abelardo Reinoso , an electrical grid specialist and consultant and founding partner of MALAIKA , maintains that the step has finally been taken to structure these proposals and give them a final component that will facilitate their advancement.

These projects involve various stakeholders in the energy ecosystem, from distributors and marketers to companies specializing in aggregation and flexibility.

“I believe that all the incumbents in the purchasing sector are represented there,” Reinoso said in an interview with Energía Estratégica España .

The five selected projects

The initiatives approved by MITECO include flexibility, storage, and network digitalization solutions.

The 5 projects that have received the green light are:

• Distribution network flexibility solutions (S2F) from a group of 10 distributors, OMIE, Comillas University, CIDE, ASEME, and AELEC. The project proposes use cases with local markets for flexibility and flexible access capacity.
• Citizen storage, by EDP Clientes SA. The project aims to demonstrate that the operation of a BTM battery that manages the customer’s demand curve can be compatible with the discharge of surplus energy into the grid, assimilating it to a self-consumption facility, as a first step toward managing these surpluses in an aggregate manner.
• I-flex, from IGNIS Energía SA. The project proposes creating appropriate incentives to allow for flexible demand, storage, and renewable generation, and eliminating regulatory barriers to participation in balancing markets.
• Flexability, a group formed by Francisco Espinosa and associates, Servicios de Gestión de Energía, Galp Energia España, Ferrovial Construcción, Indra, OMIE, ETECNIC Movilidad Eléctrica, Norvento, and Green Eagle Solutions. The project consists of conducting tests to help define the independent aggregator’s business model in the energy markets and in the new local flexibility markets.
• Energía del Prat: distributed shared storage, by Comunità Energía del Prat SL, Olivoenergy Consulting SL, Bamboo Energy Platform SL, IREC, and OMIE. It involves the deployment of distributed shared storage energy resources at the local level through batteries and managed by an energy community.

Each of these proposals seeks to explore new business models for the electrical grid , with the goal of improving its efficiency and sustainability.

A flexible regulatory environment for innovation

One of the key aspects of these pilot projects is their ability to operate outside of current regulations. For Reinoso, this factor is fundamental: “In these areas, the important thing is that the regulatory aspect won’t limit your ability to carry out a project.”

This will allow experimentation with new technologies and business models without the restrictions imposed by the current electricity market.

From his perspective, regulation is one of the main factors for the development of innovations on the Internet. “What you’re, in a way, testing in these projects is the current regulations and what the analytical treaty proposes,” he explains. By removing these barriers, it will be possible to assess the extent to which new models can function in different environments.

A necessary step for the future of the electrical system

For the energy sector, this initiative represents a crucial starting point for analyzing difficulties, risks, and opportunities. “It’s essential to run a test, see what happens, and define what the next phase should look like ,” Reinoso emphasizes. In his view, this gradual approach is similar to that promoted in the development of green hydrogen, which focuses on small projects that resolve details before scaling up to a larger scale .

At the market level, the executive believes the selected projects reflect current trends in the evolution of the electrical grid . “If we talk about flexibility, storage, digitalization, and grid automation, we are addressing the key issues that will define the future,” he asserts.

Impact and next steps

Beyond the technological benefits, these tests will also reveal collateral aspects that could inspire new initiatives in the future. “When you launch a project on a network, you discover opportunities and challenges that can lead to other pilots in different areas,” says Reinoso.

The Spanish electricity sector is closely monitoring these developments, as they could pave the way toward greater flexibility and sustainability in energy management. The results of these projects will be crucial in defining the regulation and structure of the electricity market in the coming years .