i-DE connects more than 6,000 self-consumption installations in Castellón

• Iberdrola España's distribution company, in collaboration with AIECS, has organised a technical seminar on the processing process for connection to the grid. 
• The director of i-DE in the Eastern Region, Ana Lafuente, has highlighted that during 2023 an average of 300 installations per month are being registered in the province.

i-DE, External link, opens in new window. the distributor of Iberdrola España, has exceeded 6,000 self-consumption installations connected to its electricity grid in the province of Castellón, 18 of them in the collective mode, which provide the system with a total of 57 MW of photovoltaic generation fully integrated into the low and medium voltage grids.

The company and the Provincial Association of Electrical Installers and Similar Activities of Castellón (AIECS) have organised a technical session aimed at professionals in the sector to inform and clarify concepts and doubts related to the technical details for the connection of collective self-consumptionExternal link, opens in new window.  files to the i-DE grid.

This is a renewable energy production system through a photovoltaic installation shared by several users, who are part of a group of consumers who generate and share electricity from production facilities close to their homes with which they have a prior agreement.

The distribution company has published the Guide to Collective Self-consumption at low voltage, prepared in collaboration with IVACE, to guide the sector of electrical installers and the promoters of this type of initiative in the technical-administrative processing of the deployment of this type of renewable energy generation throughout the process, as well as to facilitate the deployment of shared self-consumption, which is the pillar on which the energy communities are based.

It is a publication that can be updated, incorporating changes and improvements in its content to keep up with both the applicable regulatory developments and the different contributions received from users.

The conference, which was attended by more than a hundred people, was attended by Manuel Argüelles, Director General of Energy and Mines; Eloy Martí, President of AIECS; José María Andrés, representative of the Castellón Provincial Council; Ana Lafuente, Director of i-DE in the Eastern Region; and technicians from the Territorial Service of Industry, Energy and Mines and Iberdrola's distribution company.

Ana Lafuente wanted to highlight the evolution of the connection of self-consumption installations in the province, "where the number of self-consumption contracts has gone from 1,200 installations at the end of 2021 to more than 6,000 today, and during the first half of the year the number of self-consumption contracts has been the same as those contracted for the whole of 2022. The rate during this financial year is approximately 300 connected per month, and it is also worth highlighting the evolution in the collective self-consumption modality, which has already reached 18 installations and is growing".

The director of i-DE in the Eastern Region highlighted "the important role played by the electricity distribution network as a facilitator of the energy transition, thanks to the investment effort and the digitalisation of our installations in recent years, which has allowed us to have an increasingly robust, flexible and intelligent electricity network. And we must continue to promote it as it is the real backbone for decarbonisation".

Clean energy through grids

i-DE is engaged in a process of transformation of the electricity distribution grid that is providing more information to implement additional energy efficiency and sustainability measures, in a way that is committed to ambitious and urgent climate action. The deployment of the smart grid makes it possible to respond to new models of grid use and offer a better service to citizens.

In the province of Castellón, i-DE manages approximately 10,500 kilometres of low and medium voltage lines and more than 600 km of high and very high voltage lines. It also has 4,000 transformation centres in service and 34 primary and secondary substations. In recent years, the company has undertaken an ambitious plan to digitalise its electricity grids, where it has converted its more than 450,000 meters and the infrastructure that supports them into smart meters, incorporating remote management, supervision and automation capabilities.