Spain profile

Overview

Final energy consumption in Spain has been on a downward trend since 2007, not without fluctuations because of the effects of the different crises that have occurred up to the present. Notably, the recent impacts of COVID-19 and the energy crisis intensified in 2022 by the Russian invasion of Ukraine stand out. These crises have been followed by periods of economic recovery, resulting in disruptions to economic activity and energy demand. After the upturn in 2021 due to the post-COVID-19 recovery, consumption (including climate correction) has remained virtually stable (~79 Mtoe) in 2022. This consumption is 4% below the pre-COVID level and 4% above the level in 2000. Throughout the 2000–2022 period, transport remains dominant, accounting for 41.2% of consumption in 2022. The buildings sector, residential and non-residential, represents 32% of consumption, of which 59% corresponds to dwellings. Industry has lost representativeness, both in terms of consumption and its contribution to GDP, in line with the tertiarization of the economy, reaching 23% of consumption in 2022, 9 pp lower than in 2000.

According to the ODEX index, global energy efficiency has progressed at a rate of 1.4%/year between 2000 and 2022. The residential sector leads the progress (2.0%/year), driven by technological and legislative developments in building and equipment, to which is added the effect of retrofitting existing housing. It is followed by the industrial sector (1.5%/year), although most of this improvement occurred prior to the 2008 crisis, with progress of 2.4%/year between 2000 and 2008. The transport and services sectors have shown slower progress, with respective improvements of 1.2%/year and 0.9%/year since 2000. However, these sectors have evolved more favorably since 2014, especially transport (1.3%/year), in contrast to the first two sectors, whose progress has slowed down.

The first National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan, PNIEC 2021-2030 (Spanish NECP), submitted on 31 March 2020 to the European Commission, is a planning instrument originating from Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 on Energy and Climate Governance. This first Plan assumed efficiency improvement targets for 2030 of 39.5% in terms of primary energy and 41.7% in terms of final energy (Art.3, Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) 2012/27/EU; 2018/2002). It also set a cumulative final energy savings target of 36.8 Mtoe between 2021 and 2030 (Art.7, EED 2012/27/EU; 2018/2002/EU) for which 10 sectoral measures out of a total of 17 efficiency measures were envisaged. In June 2023, the draft of the first update of the PNIEC as required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 (Art.14) was submitted to the Commission. The new PNIEC, approved by Royal Decree 986/2024 of 24 September, revises the previous targets upwards. Thus, the final energy efficiency improvement target is increased to 44% (Art.4 DEE 2023/1791). It also raises the final energy savings target to 53.5 Mtoe (Art. 8, EED 2023/1791/EU). This target should be achieved through the implementation of alternative measures in combination with the mechanisms that can be articulated within the National System of Energy Efficiency Obligations (SNOEE) with the resources of the National Energy Efficiency Fund (FNEE) and with the implementation of energy saving certificates. In its efficiency dimension, the new Plan presents 23 complementary measures, including those promoted by the Recovery Plan, the National System of Energy Efficiency Obligations, the Energy Saving Certificates, as well as alternative measures. 15 of these measures have a sectoral focus.

Buildings

Between 2000 and 2022, energy consumption in residential buildings (including climate correction) grew by 1%/year, reaching 14.9 Mtoe in 2022. This growth is mainly driven by electricity consumption (+2.4%/year), boosted by the penetration of electrical equipment, the increasing use of heat pumps in heating, and more recently, ICT technologies enabled by the digitalization of households. Two-thirds of energy consumption is concentrated on heating (39%) and appliances (27%). Domestic hot water is the next most significant use (19%), while air conditioning accounts for just over 1%. Unit energy consumption for heating (koe/m²) has shown an erratic trend over the period, with a downward trend (-1.5%/year), reaching 3.7 koe/m² in 2022. Since 2000 electrical equipment (including lighting) has increased its unit energy consumption (toe/dwelling) (+1.6%/year), peaking in 2010 and accounting for 54% of consumption (excluding heating) in 2022. Unit consumption of other uses, except air conditioning (+5.4%/year), has remained stable, with slight decreases between 1 and 1.5%/year.

In the period 2000 -2022, energy consumption in the residential sector increased by 2.2 Mtoe, driven by the rise in the number of occupied dwellings (+5.4 Mtoe) and higher comfort levels (+3.9 Mtoe) associated with domestic equipment and a shift toward larger homes. These effects were partially offset by energy savings (-5.9 Mtoe) resulting from efficiency improvements in housing and domestic equipment, supported by stricter standards and energy rehabilitation measures promoted through various national programmes, along with the contribution of favorable weather conditions (-1.1 Mtoe).

Between 2000 and 2011, electricity consumption (toe/m²) in the services sector grew faster (1.7%/year) than the total consumption (1.2%/year). Both indicators then reversed their trend, with a sharper fall under the impact of the 2008 crisis. In 2014, the trend shifted again, continuing until 2020, with decreases of 1%/year and 3%/year in total and electricity unit consumption, respectively. Since 2020, coinciding with the post-COVID-19 recovery, both indicators have improved by around 5%/year. Overall, the electricity indicator has evolved more favorably since 2011, with a threefold improvement (-1.8%/year), explained by the adoption of more efficient electrical equipment, particularly in energy-intensive sectors, and energy management systems.

In the buildings sector, the actions implemented follow the EU guidelines, particularly the Directives on Energy Efficiency (EED) and Buildings (EPDB). Regarding this latter directive, in recent years significant progress has been made in its transposition through different regulatory provisions that enhance the levels of efficiency requirements such as the Technical Building Code (Royales Decree 732/2019, 450/2022), the Regulation of Thermal Installations in Buildings (Royal Decrees 238/2013, 178/2021) and the Energy Certification of buildings (Royal Decrees 235/2013, 309/2021). Concerning the first directive, several measures have been implemented in accordance with articles 4, 5, 6 and 7. These include the Long-Term Strategy for Energy Rehabilitation in buildings in Spain (ERESEE 2020), measures aimed at the energy renewal of public buildings, such as the Programmes PIREP (Local and Autonómico), the Energy Transition Plan in the General State Administration (AGE) and the AGE Green Public Procurement Plan (PCPE), 2018-2025. Likewise, there are support measures, both legislative and economic, for rehabilitation in general, such as Law 10/2022 of 14 June, the PREE and PREE 5000 programmes, as well as the Aid programmes for residential rehabilitation and social housing (Royal Decree 853/2021).

Transport

Road transport accounted for 88% of the sector's energy consumption in 2022, surpassing other modes, whose shares range from 1.0% (rail) to 7.8% (air). This dominance is driven by private vehicles (41%) and freight transport (42%). While cars have increased their share (+7.2 pp) since 2000, freight vehicles have decreased their share (-7 pp). Except for air transport (+1.8 pp), the remaining modes have lost representativeness (around 1 pp).

Since 2000 passenger traffic has hardly changed (+0.3%/year), largely concentrated on cars, whose share has grown by 3.6 pp, reaching 84% in 2022. In contrast, public transport, despite the increase in rail traffic (+1.8%/year) has lost representativeness, with a share of 16% in 2022 (7% for bus and 9% for rail). However, this loss should be analyzed with caution due to a methodological change implemented in 2017 that affects the accounting of bus traffic.

In the period 2000-2022, freight traffic has increased moderately (+0.9%/year), with road being the dominant mode, whose share (~80%) has hardly changed over the whole period. Water transport has gained importance (+2.3 pp), with a coverage of 17.4% of total traffic in 2022. Rail, in contrast to passenger traffic, has lost weight (-15 pp), reaching 3.7% of traffic.

Between 2000 and 2022, energy consumption in transport has increased by 2 Mtoe. This is mainly because of activity (i.e. passenger and freight), has led to an increase in consumption (+7.1 Mtoe), despite the various crises. To this is added the inefficient use of vehicles (+1.9 Mtoe) and the negative contribution of modal shift (+1 Mtoe) linked to the low share of the most efficient modes. This trend has been partially offset by energy efficiency improvements (-8.1 Mtoe) driven by technological advances in vehicles.

Energy efficiency measures in the transport sector fall into three typologies: improving the efficiency of transport modes, with an emphasis on road transport through the renewal and/or electrification of vehicles; the promotion of modal change towards less energy-consuming modes; and the efficient use of means of transport. Concerning the first type, the vehicle acquisition aid programmes stand out (MOVES, MOVES Singulares, MOVES FLOTAS, the Programme for the sustainable transformation of freight and passenger fleets (Royal Decree 983 /2021, 16 November)) within the second type, the Aid Programme for municipalities for the implementation of low-emission zones and the Programme for the digital and sustainable transformation of urban transport deserve a mention. Regarding the third type, since 2014 the training system to get the driving license for private and industrial vehicles includes driving techniques. Likewise, the use of clean and efficient vehicles is encouraged through a registration tax on CO2 emissions and the classification of vehicles according to their emissions. Within the framework of the NECP, there is a commitment to modal change, traffic reduction, the use of collective public transport, sustainable mobility, and the electrification of transport. Likewise, the recent review of the NECP delves into changes in transport and sustainable mobility, with emphasis on the transformation of cities. In addition, reinforcing the commitment to public and collective transport and the railway, among others.

Industry

Energy consumption in industry has shown a downward trend since 2005. In 2022, it reached 18.2 Mtoe, 10% lower than in 2021 and 25% below the 2000 level. This decline, after the upturn in 2021 linked to the post-COVID-19 recovery, is due to the increase in energy prices caused by the war in Ukraine. Five energy intensive branches account for 58% of consumption - non-metallic minerals (21%), chemicals (15%), iron and steel (9%), non-ferrous metallurgy (4%), and pulp and paper (9%). Metallurgy and non-metallic minerals have recorded the largest reductions since 2000 (over 2%/year), with their share of consumption decreasing, especially non-metallic minerals (-5 pp).

Among the most intensive industries, the downward trend in unit consumption of steel (-0.8%/year) and paper (-2.2%/year) over the period 2000-2022 stands out. The cement industry, despite its good performance before the economic crisis, has experienced a more unfavorable evolution, with a worsening of 0.8%/year throughout the period, although since 2018 an improvement of 2%/year has been observed. The impact of the crisis on productive capacity explains the setback in the progress of efficiency in the different branches, being more pronounced and prolonged in the cement industry, due to its link with the construction activity, severely hit by the crisis. 

Between 2000 and 2022, energy consumption in industry decreased by 6.1 Mtoe, primarily due to efficiency improvements (-8.4 Mtoe) and a decline in activity (-5.7 Mtoe), which was exacerbated by the different crisis: economic (2008-2014) and 2020 (COVID-19) in 2020. These reductions were partially offset by operational inefficiencies and changes in products mix within industrial branches towards more energy intensive products (+6.6 Mtoe) observed prior to 2014, with a significant contribution from the economic crisis. To this is added the effect associated with structural changes (+1.4 Mtoe) towards more intensive branches. 

Actions to improve energy efficiency in the industrial sector, generally framed within the different efficiency plans, and more recently within the NECP, aim to promote investments in efficiency projects through technological improvements and the implementation of energy management systems and audits. Current measures include the aid programme for SMEs and large companies, the obligation to carry out audits in large companies and the aid lines of the Recovery Plan. The latter include aid for innovation and sustainability plans, as well as for actions within the Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE) of the Electric and Connected Vehicle (PERTE VEC), the naval sector (PERTE Naval), and the PERTE for Industrial Decarbonisation.

The new PNIEC, as a novelty, contemplates improvements in technology and process management systems in energy-intensive industries.