Mario Ruiz-Tagle, CEO of Iberdrola España, warns that "the great challenge" for developing the full potential of renewables in Spain is the regulatory framework

• The CEO of Iberdrola Spain speaks at the IV International Expansion Forum

The CEO of Iberdrola España, Mario Ruiz-Tagle, took part in the IV International Expansion Forum, an event held at the University of Alcalá de Henares with the aim of promoting reflection on the international economy. In his speech at the round table on energy, Ruiz-Tagle warned that "the great challenge" for developing the full potential of renewables is "the regulatory framework", which is why he called for it to be predictable in order to be able to make the necessary investments. In his opinion, Spain has "an extremely promising future", as it has the raw material to produce clean energy.

"If I make an investment and I am going to collect it in 30 years, I have to convince an investor", explained Ruiz-Tagle during his speech at the event organised by the newspaper Expansión, which was attended by political, institutional and business leaders. In addition to the CEO of Iberdrola España, the panel of experts on energy included Maarten Wetselaar, CEO of Cepsa; Beatriz Corredor, president of Redeia; Miguel Ángel Patiño, editor of Expansión; Ignacio Colmenares, president and CEO of ENCE; and Hans Van Steen, senior advisor to the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy.

For Ruiz-Tagle, it is "key to address improvements in the commercialisation process, increase the capacity of the transport network and expand the capillarity of the distribution network".

Ruiz-Tagle stressed that the sector is currently experiencing "some relative calm compared to 2022 when the future looked rather more chaotic so it can be focused on the energy transition".

The CEO of Iberdrola España underlined the importance of this process for European competition as it "depends on the stability of the price of electricity" and called for "long-term instruments that stabilise the price and leave it unaffected" by cyclical phenomena.

In reference to the revision of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) by the Government to be sent to the European Commission, Mario Ruiz-Tagle requested a greater presence of pumped storage. The Group has identified some 10,000 megawatts (MW) that could be installed with this technology in Spain. "That's 8 billion euros of investment and 110,000 jobs", he said.