From Hormuz to the SILVER: energy, industry, and sovereignty

There are moments when the world concentrates on a single point on the map, and the Strait of Hormuz is one of them. Nearly 20% of the world's oil and 20% of liquefied natural gas pass through this passage. When this route is disrupted, not only does the price of oil rise: the economic security of entire countries is also put at risk.

Europe knows this well: its energy dependence is still around 57%. Spain is even more dependent (68%), and Catalonia too (69%). In other words, a decisive part of our well-being depends on factors beyond our control.

And this comes at a cost. In 2022, at the height of the energy crisis, Spain paid nearly 52 billion euros for its energy deficit. In 2025, it still stands at around 30-40 billion. Catalonia, for its part, spends between 10 and 15 billion euros annually on importing energy.

These are resources that leave the economy and do not stay in the territory. This implies less saving capacity, less investment, and, ultimately, less economic activity and fiscal resources to finance public services such as healthcare or education.

Despite advances in renewable electricity, the energy system remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels, especially in transport and industry. Therefore, the challenge is greater than often perceived. Today, in Catalonia, we have just over 5,000 MW of installed renewable power. The country's energy roadmap, PROENCAT, is very clear: we will have to go from these current 5,000 MW to about 15,500 MW by 2030, and reach nearly 62,000 MW by 2050. That is, in the coming decades, we will need to multiply the current capacity by more than ten to significantly reduce external energy dependence and move towards a decarbonized system.

These figures explain why PLATER – the plan that will regulate the deployment of renewables in Catalonia, drawn up in the previous legislature – is not a technical detail, but a central piece for the country. Because, in essence, what is at stake is the transformation of the energy model. Electrifying and generating local energy is not just an environmental option, but also an economic necessity, more viable today than ever: the cost of solar energy has fallen by nearly 90% since 2010, and most new renewable capacity is already cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives.

But the rollout, by itself, is not enough. The big challenge is to electrify demand: transport, industry and air conditioning. It is here where oil still dominates.

We must also overcome false dichotomies. Catalonia is a dense and complex territory, but this is not an argument for doing nothing, but for doing it better. We must take advantage of rooftops and anthropized spaces, and promote small and medium-sized installations, well integrated into the territory.

One piece of data illustrates this: if each of the 947 municipalities were to dedicate only 2 hectares – a small area – to photovoltaics, an aggregated power close to 1,000 MW could be achieved, equivalent to a nuclear reactor.

In the system as a whole, PROENCAT estimates that the deployment of renewables would occupy only around 2-3% of the territory. This shows that, with sufficient and well-distributed deployment, nuclear power plants can progressively become dispensable and their closure can contribute to reducing structural costs and associated risks.

But there is a second key element: replacing dependence on oil with a new technological dependence would be a mistake. Today, China concentrates more than 80% of the solar value chain and dominates battery production. Europe has begun to react with initiatives such as the Net-Zero Industry Act, which sets a target of producing at least 40% of clean technologies internally by 2030. It is a step in the right direction, but insufficient without a determined industrial policy.

The energy future will undoubtedly be more electric, renewable, and local. But it will also have to be industrial. Because where technologies are manufactured is where value is generated.

From Ormuz to PLATER, the common thread is the same: each crisis reminds us of the cost of not controlling the energy we consume. Catalonia has the assets to be part of the solution. What is needed now is execution: clarity, speed, and ambition. And all of this is perfectly compatible with good dialogue with the territory and good integration of projects.

The fundamental issue is not just how we will produce energy, but whether we want to continue paying for our dependence or start building our sovereignty.