PLATER: renewables without private investment?
An opinion circulating on the networks claims that the PLATER has been tailor-made for the energy oligopoly. But if we consult the data, we see that it is not true. Of the three electric companies of the so-called oligopoly —Endesa, Iberdrola, and EDP—, only Endesa has a small park in the processing stage out of the 499 applications currently being processed. The energy transition has diversified to the extreme the number of actors (small investors and freelancers who install photovoltaic systems in homes or businesses, for example) that intervene in a market that was previously in a few hands.
The PLATER is a territorial planning instrument: it determines where and under what conditions renewables can be implemented. It does not decide who will be the owner of each project, just as an urban plan does not decide who will build each building. The Plan gives priority to roofs, parking lots, industrial estates, and other transformed land. There is an immense field here for self-consumption, energy communities, town councils, cooperatives, the Public Energy Company of Catalonia, and businesses. However, these actors must present projects and assume investments. That said, the map on its own is not enough, as investment projects must be profitable for there to be anyone willing to bet on them.
The proven reduction in the cost of wind, solar, and batteries has made the transition a real possibility; however, currently, its profitability is in question due to the unjustifiable lengthening of processing times and a grid with hoarded capacity that is not being released, the insufficient anticipation of public investments in infrastructure to increase the electrification of demand, and price cannibalization during peak production hours. This situation generates uncertainty, disincentivizes investment, and highlights the need to better coordinate the territorial planning of renewables with the development and modernization of electrical grids.
Profitability is not the problem: it is the engine that allows for mobilizing an investment that the administration could not assume on its own. Capital has two options: to continue fueling fossil fuels or to build the clean system that will replace them. The goal is to decarbonize in a profitable way. The PLATER is a step forward in this direction, as it encompasses generation, storage, and new transport corridors.
This does not mean giving carte blanche to the actors, but rather setting clear rules: environmental assessment, local taxation, participation, economic return, transparency, and demanding deadlines. Catalan regulations require certain projects of more than 5 MW on non-urbanized land to offer at least 20% participation or financing to local actors. Municipalities, cooperatives, and citizens must take advantage of this offer so that part of the benefits remain tied to the territory.
The energy transition needs all actors: public projects that guarantee strategic capacity; municipal and cooperative ones that distribute wealth throughout the territory, and private ones that provide volume, affordable prices, accelerated deployment, technology and financing. The goal is not to replace a fossil fuel monopoly with an electric one, but to build a diverse ecosystem that produces clean energy and shares the benefits.
What does it mean for society not to accelerate the energy transition? And how do we ensure investment arrives on time? This is the debate that Catalonia must resolve. Without private capital we will not reach the necessary scale, without public leadership and local participation we will not have legitimacy. The question is not to prevent renewables from being profitable, but to ensure that private capital, the public sector, and the territory move in the same direction. Collaboration between all actors is urgent.
