more expensive light and marketers to the limit

It has been a month since the great blackout that left the entire Iberian Peninsula. Since then, the national electrical system has been operating under a new extreme surveillance protocol: “reinforced operation.” Its goal is simple, but ambitious: avoid another total collapse. Its effect, however, begins to feel in the pocket of companies, marketers and consumers.

Reinforced operation? Electricity and the Government have chosen to contain renewables and activate backup technologies such as gas, hydraulics or nuclear to gain stability. These sources, although more predictable, are also more expensive. But this operational turn has a price: renewable energy is being left out, cheaper, in favor of more expensive conventional technologies. As He has collected Five days, this new strategy has triggered the participation of traditional plants in the so -called adjustment markets or technical restrictions.

So is there a contradiction? After the blackout, many pointed to the low inertia of the system, associated with the high penetration of renewables, such as the great culprit. However, like has collected this medium In an analysis by Matías Zavia, the peninsular electrical system counted in the moments before collapse with an “according to European recommendations” levels: 2.3 seconds, above the minimum threshold of 2. Both Minister Sara Aagesen and Secretary of State Joan Groizard have confirmed this data in parliamentary headquarters.

The technical explanation that gains force points to a chain of failures: anomalous oscillations, Almost simultaneous generation surgeons and disconnections. It was at that critical moment, with the peninsula already isolated from France, when the low inertia aggravated the final fall. It was not the cause, but the collapse accelerator. In the absence of the official report, planned for the coming months, the blackout is emerging as a complex structural failure, not as a simple excess photovoltaic.

The real problem: a shooting price. Since this reinforced operation was activated, the costs of the electrical system have shot. According to El Confidencialthe so -called restrictions techniques and Adjustment services – requirements necessary to maintain the stability of the network – have been remarkable. The problem is that these costs are initially assumed by marketers, especially the smallest and independent, which do not have their own generation capacity and have to buy this energy in markets managed by Red Electric.

According to data the Independent Energy Marketers Association (ACIE), collected by the confidentialthe average cost of technical restrictions has gone from € 11/MWh in April to € 24/MWh in May, and at specific times it exceeds € 30. This pressure has led to several marketers, such as totalenergies, Moeve or Factorenergy, to send a letter to Red Eléctrica requesting clarity and a temporary forecast of these extraordinary measures.

It has already been seen in the light bill. Starting with the almost 10 million consumers host of the regulated rate (PVPC) that have seen how their receipt At least four euros rose in May. And what began as an extra cost for companies, also begins to move to private clients and companies of the free market.

In B2B contracts, some marketers have begun to introduce an “antiapagon rate”. As it picks up fiftiesthe client assumes up to € 12/MWh in adjustment costs, and what exceeds that figure is impact at the end of the month. In the case of households, where contracts cannot be modified easily, companies choose to raise the price of the megavatio in renewals or new offers. The dilemma is clear: raise prices or assume losses.

A market to the limit. Independent marketers denounce that Red Electrica has increased costs without offering clarity on how they are calculated or until when they will be maintained. This uncertainty prevents planning and leaves those who do not have financial muscle to cover this volatility, According to El Confidencial.

The pressure of the sector has also reached the institutional level. Acie, which brings together 20% of the market, has sent formal letters to Red Eléctrica and the Ministry for Ecological Transition asking for explanations and collaboration, such as He explained Fifodies. To date, they have not received a response, which increases the tension between the operators of the system and the most vulnerable actors in the electricity market.

With an ignition system … The risk is not only a more expensive invoice, but a more concentrated and less competitive market. If independent marketers continue to carry costs without certainty or regulatory support, many will not survive. And if they disappear, consumers will have fewer options, more dependence on large electricity and less power to negotiate prices.

The reinforced operation maintains the system on, yes. But it can also be extinguishing an essential part of the market: its diversity. With the technical report even on the horizon, what happens in the coming months will mark not only the stability of the network, but also who can continue to compete in it.

Image | Pixabay

Xataka | The more you know about the blackout in Spain, the less guilty the lack of inertia seems to be renewable