energy

Jaén revives his mining past for energy transition

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Spain reappears on the board of critical minerals In full geopolitical struggle Between the United States and China. The Government has published in the BOE The definitive admission of the “Menipe” research permit, which will allow the Australian company Osmond Resources – through its local subsidiary Green Mineral Resources SL – to explore strategic resources in the province of Jaén. Opening the way. The project Orion EU Critical Minerals Project It will cover a total 756 grids (228 km²) among the municipalities of Aldeaquemada, Santisteban del Puerto, Castellar and Montizón. According to the company itselfthe work will focus on a fossilized paleoplace with high heavy mineral content. Surface trials would have revealed “unusually high” concentrations: more than 15% in rutilo and about 10% in Circón, in addition to significant levels of rare earths (neodymium, proseodimium and disposium), essential elements to manufacture permanent magnets used in wind turbines, electric cars and batteries. A long process. It is not to arrive and kiss the saint. According to the technical memory of the PI “Orion”, the investigation is conceived as a three -year plan divided into progressive phases. During the first exercise it is planned to collect historical information, develop geological cartography at 1: 10,000 scale, perform aerial geophysical prospects and take between 80 and 90 samples in streams, in addition to running up to five surveys with witness in areas such as Avellanar. In a second stage, the works will focus on surface geophysics – electrical and magnetotheluric toomography – on the development of a hydrogeological model and on another ten additional polls. Finally, a technical-economic evaluation of the set of results is made, with the possibility of extension if the deadlines were insufficient. The technical document describes mineralized layers between 0.3 and 4 meters (average of 2.5 m), rich in zircon, rutilo, ilmenite and monacite. Besides, According to Osmond Resourcesthe first drilling program includes 15 polls in Avellanar and other objective zones. The company claims to have a listing machine ready and plans to incorporate more teams in October of this year, When the risk of fire goes down. Very quoted materials. The minerals under investigation are in the European list of critical and strategic raw materials. Rare earths such as neodymium or disposium are essential to manufacture permanent magnets used in wind turbines, electric cars and batteries. Rutilo is used in pigments and alloys. The zircon and hafnio have applications in ceramics and nuclear reactors. According to the European Commissionthe new Critical RAW Materials Act set by 2030 that at least 10% of critical subjects are extracted in community territory, 40% are processed in the EU and 25% is recycledwith the aim of reducing the dependence of a single country supplier to a maximum of 65%. Within that framework, projects such as Jaén fit fully into the industrial autonomy strategy of the block. An hUb Mining in boom? The chosen area is not new to mining. The region of Linares – La Carolina was, During the nineteenth and twentieth centuriesone of the most important leading districts in Europe. In the 50s and 60s even Torio and Uranium were sought, without success. Today, that past resurfaces with new protagonists. In addition, Jaén’s case is not isolated. The community concentrates near the 90% of the value of national metal mining and is reactivating dozens of research permits. Even, In Xatakawe have talked about “El Dorado Andaluz”, a region where the global demand for strategic metals and the European bet for new supply chains are crossed. It is not an exploitation license. For the moment. The current permit only authorizes investigation and the Board opened a period of public allegations in the Environmental Processing of Pi “Orion”and it is foreseeable that objections linked to water and biodiversity arise. In Jaén, social sensitivity towards energy projects has already been evident: the massive installation of solar plants has reached courts To stop different photovoltaic projects. Experience in other territories also invites caution. In Matamulas (Ciudad Real), the strong neighborhood and environmental response paralyzed rare earth despite the high geological potential. Jaén can investigate. If the polls confirm the potential and if the project exceeds environmental and social tests, Andalusia could become the European test bank for a new mining of critical minerals. Time will say if Jaén goes from being a line in the BOE to a key actor in Europe’s mineral autonomy. Image | Unspash and Unspash Xataka | Atacama Salar is the key on which the electric car industry pivot. And is starting to dry

The United States needs nuclear energy for AI and already knows where to find it: in dismantled atomic bombs

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The rivalry between China and the United States is not only freed in markets or The tariffs. It is also played In the field of energy. And, in full rise of artificial intelligence, Donald Trump has decided that the way to ensure abundant and stable electricity for military bases, laboratories and data centers will be through nuclear energy. His plan is as ambitious as controversial. An explosive plan. The Trump administration has sought to quadruple the nuclear production of the country. To do this, the White House wants the new reactors not to depend solely on fresh uranium, but also on recycled fuel from radioactive waste and the military plutonium surplus dismantled eyelets. As Washington Post explainedit is an “national security imperative.” The idea is simple: guarantee a stable supply for the most sensitive infrastructure, from military bases to AI data centers, without depending on the electricity or imported fuels. The recycling now an ally. THE ENERGY DEPARTMENT has identified in its inventories All uranium and useful plutonium to reconvert it in fuel. Among them is the plutonium from dismantled weapons, one of the most dangerous materials on the planet. To make it possible, startups like oklo and curio They work in piroprocessinga method that introduces fuel bars spent on molten salts and uses electricity to separate the usable components. Unlike the chemical processes used in the past, these companies ensure that the technique is safer, more economical and less polluting. In addition, Oklo, backed by Sam Altman, founder of Openai, has announced an investment of almost 1.7 billion dollars in an advanced fuel center in Oak Ridge (Tennessee), the same land where uranium was enriched The Manhattan project Eight decades ago. Only the tip of the iceberg. A couple of months ago, in one of the executive orders signed by Trump forced the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) To complete any reactor license in 18 months, when until now the process could take more than a decade. The White House also ordered to rewrite the rules of radiation exposure, considered “excessively cautious.” The official statement issued in May established specific deadlines: The Army must operate a reactor at a national base before September 2028, and the energy department will have to inaugurate at least one advanced reactor in any of its facilities in 30 months to supply AI data centers. To this is added the release of 20 tons of Haleu (high -rehearsal low enrichment uranium) for new reactors and the intention of signing 20 international nuclear cooperation agreements in the current congress. The depth of the matter. Despite political and business enthusiasm, the scientific community contrasts with reality. Ross Matzkin-Bridger, exassor of the Department of Energy, He pointed out that it is “The same technologies that developed and rejected decades ago”, with the same background problems. The MIT physicist and former secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz, It was more blunt: recycling plutonium of arms not only makes nuclear energy more expensive, but also “threatens to create material that can be used in pumps.” Along the same lines, Matthew Bunn, from Harvard, considers it unrealistic to think that public opinion accepts reprocessing plants that would also require their own waste deposit. And Frank von Hippel, from Princeton, recalled that the US has already abandoned civil recycling at the time of Jimmy Carter, after India used that technology To manufacture your first bomb. Not everything is warnings. For the White House, nuclear recycling is a strategic tool. The official statement insists that AI data centers and military facilities need “Dense energy sources, safe and resistant. ” Also, defenders such as Bradley Williams, from the National Laboratory of Idaho, They argue that using recycled plutonium It could become a need to guarantee sufficient fuel. And startups ensure that new processes include safeguards that prevent reuse of that material for military purposes. The weight of waste. The matter is even broader because the country already accumulates about 90,000 metric tons of fuel spent, stored in containers in active and dismantled plants, According to The Washington Post. Recycling part of that material would relieve a dilemma that has been resolved decades. Meanwhile, the private sector tries to position itself. Oklo signed a contract with Switchdata centers operator, to build modular reactors that contribute up to 12 GW before 2044. The company promises to open its first reactor, Aurorain 2027, although the agreement is not binding and the NRC rejected its previous application in 2022. The idea of ​​recycling is not unique. More countries have found in this method in a way to find a more source without depending on other countries as the case of Francewhich does so through subsidies and strict security measures. For its part, Japan accumulate delays and cost overruns In its Rokkash Plant, which has not yet produced fuels after decades of development. At the opposite end, United Kingdom decided to abandon the idea of ​​recycling. With about 140 tons of stored civil plutonium, he has chosen to immobilize him in a solid and stable way to bury him in a deep geological warehouse in Sellafield. Something similar occurs in Spain, which has reactivated his plan For a deep geological warehouse, planned for 2073, and in the meantime use containers such as Hi-Storm FW for intermediate storage. The contrast is evident: while some countries try to give new life to waste, others bury them forever. Everyone looks for the same: prevent nuclear legacy from becoming an eternal problem. Forecasts. The United States is committed to resuscitating old nuclear recycling technologies to sustain its energy safety and the AI ​​career. The defenders see it as a historical opportunity to reduce foreign dependence and give new use to forgotten materials. Critics fear that the same failures and risks of half a century are repeated. The experience invites prudence: the last reactors connected in the USA, In the Vogtle (Georgia) plantthey arrived seven years late and 17,000 million dollars of extra cost. Image | Oklo and Kelly Michals Xataka | 60 years … Read more

India needs more crops and solar energy than any other country. So you are installing solar panels in height

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When a solar energy company offered Harpal Dagar a fixed pay for 25 years in exchange for installing solar panels on their cultivation fields, he thought it could be a scam. Today he says that his income has tripled and sleeps quieter. “Too good to be true.” That was what this Indian farmer thought when the company Sun Master proposed to install elevated solar panels on its land on the outskirts of Delhi. I could continue working the land and, in return, would receive an annual payment for 25 years. According to a report of BBC NewsDagar had lost entire crops because of the Monzones, so he accepted the installation of the panels to have fixed income. “Today I think it was the best decision I have made,” he told the British environment. Harvest food and energy at the same time. The systems that combine agriculture with solar energy generation in the same land have a name: agrovoltaic. And in the most populous country in the world they are emerging as the most promising solution to produce clean energy without sacrificing the land necessary to feed the population. The agrovoltaic part of a simple idea: take advantage of the vertical space. Instead of choosing between a crop field or a solar park, They both haveonly that photovoltaic panels are mounted on high structures, at a height of at least three and a half meters so that tractors and other agricultural machinery can pass below. India cannot do without cultivation soil. In India more than 55% of the population It depends on agriculture. As the country approaches the 1.7 billion people in 2050, it will have to produce about 350 million tons of grain At the same time, India has pledged to meet ambitious climatic objectives that will require dedicating solar and wind energy between 55,000 and 77,000 square kilometers of land. According to a report from Mongabay Indiaagrovoltaic would resolve this paradox of “food security vs. access to energy”. Not everything that shines is gold. Sun Master pays Harpal Dagar about $ 500 per hectare per year, plus a monthly salary of 170 dollars for the maintenance of the panels. Dagar cultiva turmeric, which benefits from the microclimate created by the solar panels. Its shadow protects the cultivation of extreme heat and decreases water evaporation, reducing irrigation needs. It is not always beneficial. Depending on their disposition, solar panels reduce between 15 and 30% the light that reaches plants. This makes basic cultures that need a lot of sun, such as wheat, rice or soybeans, are not viable. Anand Jain, another farmer who has experienced with the system, says he succeeded with strawberries and tomatoes, but “the cauliflower did not work so well.” The green leafy vegetablesginger and some flowers have also benefited. The slow takeoff from agrovoltaic. The adoption of agrovoltaic in India is being slow, especially compared to China, which has 12 times more projects in operation. Incompatibility with some crops is one of the problems, but there is an even greater financial problem: raising panels more than three meters from the ground has a price. The installation of an agrovoltaic system is between 20 and 30% more expensive than that of a conventional solar park. Small farmers cannot afford these systems, so they depend on companies with capital that want to rent their land with a 25 -year contract. Technology will solve some challenges. For companies to be willing to assume that risk, more efficient and profitable systems are already being developed. “Farm-Forward” solar panels with More space between panel ranks to maximize the entry of light and further facilitate the step of machinery. And new software to simulate how much light and heat receives each sheet, how it affects photosynthesis and, ultimately, what performance of the harvest. The potential is simply gigantic. A GIZ technical report He estimates that agrovoltaic in India can point to a capacity of between 3,156 and 13,803 gigawatts. To put it in perspective, the total installed capacity of photovoltaic energy worldwide is 2 GW. In Xataka | One of the most arid areas in China is reverde. The reason: a plant with seven million solar panels

This is the recipe with which they want to turn around the energy map

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Against all forecast –And in the middle of Trump was in the White House– California is demonstrating that the sun can with the night. The recipe has no technological mystery: a lot of photovoltaic, many batteries and an increasingly fine demand management. The result is that natural gas, for decades the king of the evening peak, yields ground quickly. The key is in batteries. And the state of California is more than clear. The solar generation has increased in this half year by 18% compared to the same period last year and the discharge of batteries grew by 63%, allowing to cover up to a third of the maximum night demand, According to Ember. That cocktail allowed to cover the maximum night demand, a space that until nothing dominated the combined cycles of gas. The impact has been fulminant: the production of gas plants fell 25% in one year and 43% in just two. During the summer, in 41 of the last 49 days, the Californian network was able to meet the entire demand exclusively with solar, wind and hydro, sometimes for more than nine consecutive hours. In several days, the renewable supply exceeded 140% of the demand, with surpluses exported to neighboring states, As explained by Professor Mark Jacobson in an interview with Bruce McCabe. The kitchen of success. The key to the Californian turn can be summarized in a word: capacity. In just four years the state went from having 0.6 GW of batteries at a network scale (2020) to 11.7 GW in 2024, almost half of the entire National Park. That year it installed more storage (3.8 GW) than large -scale solar (2.5 GW), a milestone that reflects the change of priorities, as they have detailed in an Ember report. However, we are not talking only about the hardware of the matter. The Caiso operator He opened the door that the batteries arbitrate intra -diagram prices – cargar when the energy is abundant and cheap, sell in expensive hours – participate in regulation services and reserve part of their capacity for the so -called “critical hours” in the afternoon. In 2024, even with more moderate price peaks, its role in the Net-Peak was consolidated, displacing the gas turbines that used to dominate that section. Two factors that have helped. On the one hand, solar roofs already produce the equivalent of 13% of the electricity sold in the state, reducing the daytime demand of the network and, when combined with domestic batteries, also the nocturnal. On the other hand, the Demand-Side Grid-Sport (DSGS) program has given rise to one of the world’s largest power plants in the world, with more than 200 MW operations and 720 MW of customer batteries. In the summer of 2024 it was activated 16 times during heat waves and tested its stabilizer effect. However, its future is uncertain: the state budget deficit and a cut of 18 million dollars put both DSGS and the Microredes Deba program at risk, warns PV Magazine. The impact on prices. The most immediate result for consumers is that prices have relaxed. The renewables sank the wholesale cost: the spot fell 53 % year -on -year and many noon sections recorded negative prices, damping thanks to the fact that the batteries already absorb 15 % of the demand in those hours. According to Jacobsoncomplete electrification can save between 60% and 65% of the annual energy invoice compared to the current fossil -based model. All pink color? No, California still faces challenges. Demand response programs depend on public budgets that are not guaranteed. As Jacobson has pointed out In a study published in Standfordthe network needs to continue improving its flexibility: move hydroelectric to the night, accelerate marine wind and strengthen demand management are essential steps. Spain: The other face of the currency. While California wins the gas battle, Spain lives the opposite paradox: it produces more renewable than ever, but cannot only trust them. After the blackout of April 28, 2025, Red Eléctrica activated a reinforced operational mode which prioritizes combined cycles. The problem is not the lack of sun or wind, but storage and flexibility. Without enough batteries or hydraulic pumping, the network lacks mattress to transfer the noon surplus at night peak. The Government knows and has reacted with an “antiaps insurance”: Royal Decree-Law 7/2025 He opened the door to capacity markets that remunerate firm technologies for being available. The objective is to maintain 9,000 MW of combined cycles that were at risk of closing. But those are temporary crutches. Structural solutions – batteries, hydraulic storage, micro -redes and demand management – will take at least until 2026 to deploy. Two roads, the same lesson. Mark Jacobson He foresees California will reach 80% renewable between 2026 and 2028 and 100% between 2030 and 2033. Ember He estimates that in 2025 A batteria GW will be installed for every 1.7 GW of solar, further accelerating gas replacement. The moral is clear: California demonstrates that miracles or futuristic technologies are not needed: with solar, wind, hydro and batteries enough to bend gas. Spain, on the other hand, remembers that the transition is not improvised: without sufficient storage or management, renewables cannot sustain the network alone. The road is clear; The question is who will travel faster. Image | Rawpixel Xataka | 99% of the Internet travels through submarine cables. Now there is a much more ambitious plan in progress: join the electricity grid

Clean energy investment already bends fossil fuels

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There is an old narrative that states that the energy transition is a chimera, and that clean energies can barely be a complement to a system that will necessarily remain anchored in fossil fuels. But the data tell a very different story. We are living energy transformation faster in historyand money is the clearest proof of it. Short. World energy investment for all 2025 is estimated at 3.3 billion dollars. According to the International Energy Agency2.2 of those billion are destined for clean energy technologies and infrastructure. Two thirds of the investment. Just a decade ago, this proportion was unthinkable. It is invested in energies without emissions almost double what is invested in fossil fuelsa reality that shows that financial markets have chosen a clear side. The star king. The greater transformative force This transition is photovoltaic solar energy, with a global investment of 450,000 million dollars planned by 2025. This leadership is not accidental. Solar panels have gone from being the option for becoming the most economical way to generate electricity in much of the planet. Each dollar invested solar technology generates 2.5 times more energy that a decade ago. In 2015, the investment ratio between clean energy and fossil fuels was 2 to 1. in 2024, That relationship reached 10 to 1in large part thanks to the collapse of the prices of the photovoltaic components. An imminent sorpasso. The growing domain of renewables is not only reflected in investment, but also in their role in the Mix. In 2025, renewables They will overcome coal as the first source of electricity in the world. Coal will fall below 33% in the energy mix for the first time in a century, and renewables providing more than a third of the global generation. For now, it is not a homogeneous change. The bulk of the investment is concentrated in developed economies and in China, which in 2024 mobilized more than 625,000 million dollars in clean energy. Emerging markets and developing economies barely represent around 15% of world expenditure on clean energy. But the projection is global: starting from a very low base, the investment in these other regions has grown 50% since 2020. The beginning of the end for fossil fuels. The formula is simple: as the renewables become cheaper and more efficient, they move to fossil fuels. A few months ago, United Kingdom closed its last coal central. Its emissions have already fallen more than 50% compared to 1990. In 2025, for the first time, coal generated less than half of Poland’s electricity. Although the path to total decarbonization still has enormous challenges (such as the modernization of electrical networks, which remain a bottleneck, As we have seen clear in Spain), Renewables have reached a turning point, at least in the face of investors. The combination of solar, wind and battery storage is increasingly cheaper and reliable. The adoption, which was slow at the beginning, is now an exponential curve. Image | IEA (CC by 4.0) In Xataka | Forget the industrial revolution: the fastest energy change in human history is happening now

A perfect storm is hitting wind energy in almost everyone. Less in China

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Wind energy has gone from being the great hope of Europe to be in the shadow of photovoltaic solar. Deserted auctions, paralyzed projects waiting for permits and bottlenecks in network connections are an increasingly common reality for the sector both in the old continent and in the United States. But in the midst of this perfect storm, an exception called China is able to completely distort global statistics. Wind in the West. Europe installed 16.4 GW of wind capacity in 2024, a figure lower than the expected Windeurope It attributes endless administrative delays and increasingly complicated financial conditions, especially for inflation in the supply chain. Projects Judicially blockeddeserted auctions … Nothing that the United States is not experiencing on the other side of the Atlantic. A few weeks ago, the US government canceled an investment of 679 million dollars to adapt the ports to the offshore wind industry, an infrastructure without which the huge components of marine wind turbines cannot be assembled or transported. Before, the Trump administration had paralyzed the construction of almost finished wind farms For the alleged espionage from China. Meanwhile, in China. If wind energy facilities grew 13% in 2024 it was almost exclusively thanks to Chinese demand. Excluding China from the equation, The market contracted 16%. Only Chinese manufacturers continue to beat orders records, and there are no signs that this will change this year. According to a Bloomberg reportChina monopolizes approximately 75% of all new offshore wind energy facilities in 2025. The Asian country dominates the world production of components and enjoys greater investments thanks to the agility of permits and financial support of the Communist Party, which establishes very low interest rates for these companies. A two -speed transition. The result is an energy transition that advances at radically different rhythms. While Europe and the United States collide with economic reality and government changes, China meets its objectives and almost completely dominate the supply chain. We are living The fastest energy change in historybut not all countries can advance at the same speed. This imbalance is also one of the reasons why Solar energy has eaten the ground to wind in pioneer regions in the sector, such as Europe. The installation of panels (most manufactured in China) is cheaper and more simple, both at the logistics level and permits, than the wind turbine industry that once Europe led. Image | Siemens Gamesa In Xataka | One of the most arid areas in China is reverde. The reason: a plant with seven million solar panels

They will change how we consume energy at home

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The gas counters we have at home are about to retire. Appliances that until now needed a technician’s visit to write down consumption – and that in most cases they have already overcome their useful life – will be replaced by intelligent others. The Government has set date: between 2028 and 2032, eight million homes must adapt to this transformation. The measure promises more transparency and control, but also an inevitable increase in the invoice. Let’s go in parts. Because talking about More increases in the invoice It is a headache. The draft of the Order of the Ministry for Ecological Transition Mark a demanding calendar: In 2028 it will have to have been renewed 20% of the devices, in 2030 half and in 2032, eight out of ten. Only 2% can be fought, and with justification. And it is not a thing of a few: the measure will affect almost all homes, anyone who consumes less than 50,000 kWh per year. How will it affect your pocket? The change will not be free. Today a home pays about 58 cents per month for the rent of its gas counter; With the new intelligent the figure will go to 1.10 euros, According to the CNMC. In practice they are between 46 and 52 more cents every month, about six euros a year, According to the ministry draft. It is not the first time that happens. In 2017 the rental already dropped from 1.25 to 0.58 euros, and now rises again. The Government defends that the additional cost is lower than continuing to install analog counters and that, in the medium term, it will be compensated with savings: up to 800 million in 25 years, 586 million retail consumption of gas and 229 million for less CO₂ emissions. A new way of consuming energy at home. Beyond the invoice, the new devices will transform the relationship of homes with energy. The new intelligent counters will allow remote and real -time reading, which will avoid visiting technicians and there will be no more invoices based on estimated consumption. Everything will be digitized, so each consumer can consult their consumption through a website or application, as already happens with electricity. In addition, you will have immediate information will facilitate reducing consumption and better plan the use of energy. Finally, and more importantly, teams will include manipulations and automatic notices detection functions. In the words of Joan Batalla, president of Sedigas, cited by Forbesit is “a decisive step towards the digitalization of the gas system, with direct benefits for consumers in terms of control of their consumption, safety, energy efficiency and service quality.” The pulse between Sedigas and the Government. The employer of the sector, thirsty, He has presented allegations to the ministerial draft. Although he supports the measure, he has put several challenges on the table. First, the cost since they estimate that the substitution will involve 200 million euros that are currently not recognized in the regulatory framework. Second, they ask that the monthly rate not only apply to homes, but to the entire Park of Digital Accountants, also in large consumption. They have also contemplated that a more flexible calendar is necessary, with reviews every three years to adjust to the availability of equipment and the reality of the deployment. Finally, they have requested more forceful measures against equipment manipulation, with deterrent mechanisms and advanced detection systems. The Ministry, however, defends its calendar and has suggested the possibility of sanctions, since the draft mentions “Potential penalties” for users who do not allow the replacement of their accountant. The new star of the house. The accountant who has gone unnoticed in a corner of the kitchen or the portal is about to become a key piece of the energy transition. For homes, it will mean paying a few euros more a year, but also having much more precise control over its consumption. For distributors, a logistics and economic challenge of 200 million. And for the country, the opportunity to modernize the gasist system and move towards a more efficient and sustainable model. As Forbes has summarized“With a balanced regulatory framework, Spain can be placed at the European avant -garde in digitalization of energy consumption.” The challenge will be, now, to distribute who pays that invoice. Image | Unspash Xataka | Emptied Spain has been filled with solar mills and panels, but waste energy for a simple reason: there are no cables

Emptied Spain has been filled with solar mills and panels, but waste energy for a simple reason: there are no cables

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At noon, the sun and the wind are left over in the emptied regions. At dusk, the cities turn on the gas. Spain has run more than anyone raising renewables in the unpopulated territory, but the cables that take them to the demand are not tended at the same speed. The result is a broken bridge: clean energy is born in emptied Spain and does not arrive, when it is necessary, urban Spain. Today, for the first time, the distributors have published the “Map of Plug” for new demand: the photo is stark. The expected map. By mandate of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC), the great distributors —I-de (Iberdrola), e-Distribution (Endesa), UFD (Naturgy), E-Redes (EDP) and Repsol Distribution— They have published the capacity maps To connect new firm demand to the distribution network. It is an radiography where they show, knot to knot, where there is a hole, what is busy and what is in process. According to the employer Aelēcthe first results confirm that 83.4% of knots are already saturated, which prevents connecting new consumptions such as industries, data centers, storage or electric vehicle recharge. The association itself defines it as “transparency milestone”, but warns that, under these conditions, without investment, the transition is raised. The great territorial neck. Here is the core of the problem. Spain has installed renewables where there is resource and soil: rural regions with low density and little network. However, demand grows in cities: metropolitan areas, logistics corridors, data clusters. In the middle there is an electrical system that does not endure that mismatch, since transport corridors are missing to evacuate surpluses and, above all, distribution capacity to connect the new demand where it is requested. The result is that at noon there are many cheap MWh that are cut or sold at zero price; When the sun falls, the network needs support and the gas enters, Based on pool. The double face of emptied Spain. If the anticipatory network is not remunerated and planned, there will be no industries, CPDs, or recharge of electric vehicles, or hydrogen or storage projects that create employment and set population. But if investigated without criteria, the cost will fall on rates without effective use. The key is agile planning, clear priorities and mechanisms that accelerate reinforcements where demand is plausible: poles such as Aragon, but also Extremadura, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha or inner Andalusia, where hot knots and curtailment-up to 30% renewable wasted by saturation– They are already common. The demand boom. There is a very illustrative fact: The increase in data centers. Applications to get an access point have multiplied by 80 compared to previous years, According to the Spanish. Among them are technological, great consumers and promoters of hybrids that seek to consume in situ. Aragon has become an epicenter. Only the projected data centers would add more than 2 GW of requested power, with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft or QTS/Blackstone at the head. In this new scenario, the race for a “plug” is no longer limited to first: weigh guarantees, guarantees and project criteria. “Historic traffic jam.” The “complete maps” – without significant hollows – stress even more the pulse with the CNMC. The fear of the sector is double: losing industrial and digital projects (including CPDs) for not being able to connect them and see investment relocation if the jam persists. The electricity story connects that urgency with the regulated remuneration: they argue that with a rate of 6.46% the volume of reinforcements required by the demand wave required, and remember that in other countries (Italy, United Kingdom, Sweden) the reference rates are higher; In Spain, they ask around 7.5%. For its part, the CNMC two proposals presented in July: a financial compensation rate of 6.46% by 2026-2031 (from current 5.58%) and a new distribution methodology that turns towards the Totex model (CAPEX + OPEX). This system includes incentives for efficiency and quality, and league part of the remuneration to the contracted power, to avoid overrredes that end up paying consumers. The regulator insists that the framework must encourage investment without compromising the affordability of the invoice. The forecasts. Access to the distribution network no longer depends only on the order of arrival. The processing requires guarantees, technical draft and guarantees, and a period of one month to present the documentation after reserving a point. The resolutions should be issued in less than six months, with technical support for Red Electric. In addition, scores that value CO₂, investment volume and speed at the beginning of consumption are applied. In parallel, solutions such as battery PPAS arise, which allow to finance storage and take advantage of the cheap electricity at noon at the afternoon, avoiding the resource to gas. But without broader investment limits, as Aelēc claimsthe bridge between rural Spain and urban Spain will remain broken. The PNIEC foresees more than 53,000 million in networks until 2030, although the CNMC defends to maintain the rate at 6.46% for efficiency and affordability, while the sector asks for greater certainty and return. The political context adds pressure: after the rejection of the “Decree antiaps” In July, the dilemma is sharpened. The end point. Spain does not have a sun or wind problem; It has a bridge problem between where it occurs and where it is consumed. Capacity maps have made what the industry had been suffering: the distribution network is at the limit. Without a jump in investment and planning, the transition will be stuck where there are less labor and more territory. If the network does not reach empty Spain, clean energy will not reach rich Spain. The choice is not whether to invest or not, but how, where and with what rules so that the cost does not pay it neither the countryside nor the city, but the economic future of both. Image | Freepik Xataka | The renewable boom clashes with the invisible wall: Spain has more green energy than ever but the system does not endure … Read more

There is a renewable energy source that works 24 hours a day, and Japan has opted for it: osmotics

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Omnipresent wind and solar energies have the same problem: intermittency. The wind does not always blow and the sun does not always shine. This dependence on weather conditions It forces us to look for storage solutions OA depend on a 24/7 available source to have a constant supply. But what if that other source was also renewable energy? Japan bets on osmotics. In August, the Japanese city of Fukuoka launched the First osmotic energy center in the country. It is just the second installation of this type in the world and represents more than a pilot test for a technology that promises to revolutionize the energy mix. “I hope it extends not only in Japan, but throughout the world,” said Akihiko Tanioka, an expert in the field of the Tokyo Science Institute. The plant will generate about 880,000 kilowatts-Hora a year to feed part of the desalination plant that supplies fresh water to the city. Although it may seem like a modest figure, equivalent to the consumption of about 220 Japanese homes, its true value is that it works continuously. It is not affected by the weather or time of day, and does not emit carbon dioxide. The power to mix fresh and salted water. Osmotics is a new generation renewable energy based on A natural phenomenon that we all study at the institute: osmosis. When two solutions with different salt concentration are separated by a semipermeable membrane (which lets the water pass, but not the salt), the water of the less concentrated solution flows naturally towards the most concentrated to try to balance the mixture. Fukuoka’s plant places fresh water (treated wastewater) on one side of the membrane, and salt water (sea water) to the other. Fresh water crosses the membrane to the salt water side, increasing volume and pressure on that side. The conression is used to move a turbine that, connected to a generator, produces electricity. Therefore, this renewable source is also known as saline gradient energy or “blue energy”. From the initial promises to the first problems. This technology is not exactly new. Already in 2017, in Xataka we echoed its enormous potential: The studies suggested that it could generate up to 40% of the world energy demand if it would be used in the mouths of all rivers. The challenge was the efficiency of the membranes and the cost of the facilities. The first systems, such as delayed pressure osmosis, suffered bioincructing problems: bacteria blocked membranes, drastically reducing their effectiveness. Other systems, such as “inverse electrodialysis”, were more durable but generated very little energy. The Fukuoka plant, like the first in the world inaugurated in Denmark in 2023 by the Saltpower company, demonstrates that progress in membrane technology is allowing to overcome these obstacles. Nanotechnological membranes. In France, the company Sweetch Energy has developed Much more efficient nanometric size membranes, capable of generating between 20 and 30 watts per square meter. In comparison, the most advanced systems to date generate 12.6 watts. The company seeks to install its first real -scale generator, Osmorhône 1, at the mouth of the Rhone River. The potential of this unique river would reach 500 MW, equivalent to mid -nuclear reactor capable of supplying two million people. And it would be just the beginning. All deltas and estuaries in the world release 30,000 energy from each year, a figure similar to world demand of electricity. Salina bachata in Fukuoka. In addition to the friction of the membranes, the osmotics also loses energy in water pumping. But, as he explains The Guardianthe new Fukuoka plant uses the concentrated brine that remains of the desalination process to increase the salinity difference and, thus, the energy potential available. The inauguration of the Japanese plant and the advances of companies such as Sweetch Energy mark a turning point for the osmotics. They are the first steps to stop being a laboratory promise and become an industrial reality. In a clean, permanent energy, which does not depend on the climate and that can be integrated into existing infrastructures such as ports, desalination makers or locks. Japan has made its bet: the mixture of fresh and salted water will be part of its energy mix. Image | Umi-No-Nakamich Desalination Plant (Obayashi) In Xataka | Japan has just made a monumental bet for Perovskita’s solar panels: they are his best chance against China

Heat was always the enemy of solar energy. A new study says it will be your best ally

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For decades, heat has been considered the Achilles heel of solar energy. When the sun squeezes and the temperature rises, the solar panels They begin to lose efficiency. In sunny places, from Madrid to Sydney, the paradox is known: a lot of sun to achieve a lot of energy, but also a lot of heat that plays against. However, where some see problems, a new study has found a possible solution. An unexpected ally. A study by the University of Laughborough, Posted in The Journal of Chemical Physicsturn this logic. Researchers have tried some photoelectrochimic flow cells (PEC), an emerging technology that captures light and stores it. The most striking thing about this research is that the more heat they receive, the faster they store energy. The team has even identified an “optimal point” around 45 ° C, where performance reaches its maximum before stabilizing. More in depth. But to understand the importance of this finding, it should be remembered why heat is a problem in conventional photovoltaic panels. The increase in temperature causes an increase in internal electrical resistance. This means that electrons lose energy in the form of heat instead of contributing to electric current, which reduces voltage and efficiency. As we have explained in Xatakafor each additional degree above 25 ºC, the plates lose between 0.05 % and 0.34 % yield, which can translate into falls from 10 to 25 % in very hot days. Instead, PEC cells behave totally the other way around: heat energizes liquid electrolyte, accelerating the ion movement. In this way, internal conductivity is improved and reduces losses, achieving a faster and more efficient load. The benefit of heat. The project led by the University of Laughborough by not needing active refrigeration systems, installation and maintenance costs are reduced. For their part, the most benefited regions would be those with abundant sun and high temperatures. As Dr. Bae has highlighted in Interesting Engineering: “This revolutionizes popular belief and gives us a new way of designing solar storage systems that prosper in heat conditions.” Other ways. Beyond the PEC cells, there are also initiatives that seek to take advantage of heat in solar energy. The Australian startup Coolsheet has designed a passive water cooling system that is installed in the rear of the solar panels. This reduces the temperature of the plate and, at the same time, water is heated that can be used in industrial or domestic processes. As we have explained in Xatakaevery 10 ºC less on the plate can translate into an increase of 4 % in electrical efficiency. From enemy to ally. Solar energy crosses an intense innovation phase. From technologies such as PECs, which make heat into an ally, to hybrid solutions such as Coolsheet, which reuse leftover heat, the future seems to get away from the traditional vision that heat is a problem to fight. What is clear is that, As the University of Laughborough concludeswe are one step closer to a scenario in which the sun not only generates electricity, but also enhance the efficiency and reliability of our energy systems. Image | Freepik Xataka | The window that does not seem solar panel, but is: China seeks that each glass facade produces clean energy

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