Morrás (ACCIONA): "The change to a sustainable energy model can create more than 600,000 jobs in Spain"

The General Manager of the Energy Division of ACCIONA spoke during the 1st National Congress on SMEs and the Environment, held in Navarra.

Morrás claimed that the required increase in investment –around 325,000 million euros up to 2030- would be offset by lower oil and gas imports.

He considers that "the energy transition is the best opportunity available to get out of the crisis".

The effective transition towards a more sustainable energy model can create around 600,000 new jobs in Spain up to 2030 and provide a positive balance for the country's economy in terms of GDP. This claim was made by Esteban Morrás, General Manager of the Energy Division of ACCIONA, during a speech in the 1st National Congress on SMEs and the Environment, opened today in Estella (Navarra). Morrás claimed that a change of energy model would be "the best opportunity available to get out of the crisis".

Morrás underlined the fact that the change of energy model is particularly urgent in Spain, due to increase in CO2 emissions (Spain is the European country farthest away from complying with the Kyoto protocol), its high dependence on imported energy (over 80%, i.e. 20 points above the EU average), and the rise in unemployment, which has placed the country at the top of the jobless tables in the EU (17.4% in March 2009) with over 3.6 people out of work.

In the light of this negative scenario, Morrás highlighted the fact that Spain is very well placed to lead the process of energy transition, giving some examples of this leadership in renewables. He pointed out that the country is the third biggest wind power market in the world and the second in solar power; a national renewables industry has been set up and has created around 190,000 direct and indirect jobs; Spain has world leader companies in wind power development and the manufacture of wind turbines and is among the five most attractive countries in the world for investments in clean energies, according to a ranking by Ernst & Young.

"We cannot let this opportunity slip by, because countries that are pioneers in renewables today will be the energy leaders of the future", said Morrás.

Positive for the economy

The ACCIONA senior manager pointed out that the energy transition in Spain needs to be driven both by the Administration and the business world, mentioning three achievable objectives for 2030: 50% of electricity from renewables; 50% of pure electric vehicles and rechargeable hybrids, i.e. 14 million vehicles, with 30% of the rest using biofuel, and a 50% reduction in emissions in the housing and service sectors, mainly through energy saving and efficiency measures. As for electric power, the proposed objective would mean the first step in achieving a generation mix that would be 100% emission-free in 2050.

According to Morrás the achievement of these objectives would require firm and coordinated action in areas such as the development of renewable technologies for electric power generation (up to a total of 90,000 MW in 2030), R&D in non-emitting technologies on a large scale, transport, the development of intelligent networks, energy efficiency in construction and the stimulus provided by bioenergy.

According to the figures quoted by Morrás, this will require an investment of around 487,000 million euros up to 2030, i.e. an average of around 22,100 million per year, equivalent to 2.2% of current GDP. This would triple the level of investment envisaged under the present model. However, this increase in investment –estimated at around 325,000 million euros than the figure needed to continue with the present model- would be offset by savings in energy imports. These would reach 350,000 million euros in the same period (for an average oil reference price of 100 dollars a barrel). 88% of the required investment over the entire period would come from private capital and the remaining 12% from public funding.

87,000 million in tax revenue

Morrás pointed out two other positive effects of the sustainable scenario for the Spanish economy, among them the creation of 600,000 new jobs against 112,000 in the present scenario. He remarked that, based on an oil price of around 66 dollars/barrel, for each increase of one dollar the sustainable scenario would create 5,464 jobs a year more than the alternative scenario. He also highlighted the fact that the oil price will rise again as the economy picks up.

Among other positive consequences of the new model, Morrás mentioned the development of a high-tech national industry in a position of world leadership, a 25% reduction of energy dependence on other countries (55%, against 80% today), and 14% less CO2 emissions compared to present levels; otherwise, these are likely to rise by 25% if action is not taken.

Corporate information

ACCIONA Energíap is a world leader in renewable energy sources and provides services to other companies in the sector. It has installed over 6.000 MW of wind power capacity in 208 windparks in 14 countries and manufactures wind turbines using proprietary technology. It also has solar thermal and photovoltaic plants, small hydro power stations and biomass plants, plus facilities that produce biodiesel and bioethanol.

It belongs to the ACCIONA Group, one of the main Spanish corporations with activities in over 30 countries on the five continents in the fields of infrastructures, electric power, hydropower and services, with a turnover of 12,665 million € in 2008. ACCIONA's workforce is over 40,000 people and it is quoted on the Spanish IBEX-35 (ANA.MC) selective stock index.