Catalonia’s government announces the creation of a public energy utility at the COP26 conference

The Ministry for Climate Action will allocate aid up to €115 million to encourage self-consumption, energy storage and renewable thermal energy

The new Catalan Generalitat government is taking action against the climate emergency. The President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, and the Minister for Climate Action, Teresa Jordà, announced in Glasgow, where both are taking part in the COP26 Climate Conference, that the government will approve the creation of a public energy programme in the coming weeks.

“Addressing the climate emergency is urgent and cannot be delayed,” he said. The leading republican figures have both thus reasserted the government’s commitment to the energy transition in Catalonia, emphasizing the importance of the development of the country’s own energy model. In this regard, President Aragonès highlighted that the creation of a public energy utility “is to give the public sector the scope to participate in the production and generation of renewable energy.”

On her part, Ms Jordà pointed out that the executive “wants this utility to produce and manage energy” in those local areas in which the major energy utilities are not interested. The minister thus mentioned “public buildings, infrastructure, roads, reservoirs, canals,” and in short “those places where private initiative would not invest because the returns would not be considered good enough.”

In addition, President Aragonès announced that in the coming weeks the department headed by Minister Jordà will also allocate aid to encourage self-consumption, energy storage and renewable thermal energy of up to €115 million for citizens, businesses, the third sector and administrations. “It is important that both energy generation and consumption are distributed,” said Mr Aragonès.

Ms Jordà concluded by explaining that the programme will take the form of a technical office, which will have to present the preliminary studies necessary to set up the public utility within 6 months.