E-REDES maintains €550M investment for power distribution grid to 2025

E-REDES, the electricity distribution arm of Energias de Portugal (EDP), is sticking with plans for capital spending of €550 million on the power grid between 2023 and 2025, according to a document put out to public consultation by the sector regulator, ERSE.

The proposal from E-REDES (which was formerly known as EDP Distribuição) for the Development and Investment Plan for the National Electricity Distribution Grid, PDIRD-E 2020 – Update 2022, “does not change the amount of investment to be made in the three-year period 2023-2025, which makes up a total of €550 million at total cost, as entered in the approved PDIRD-E 2020, either in terms of total cost or in terms of annual cost in this period, thus respecting the recommendation of ERSE’s Opinion to the initial proposal of PDIRD-E 2020 to ensure the neutrality of the Plan in terms of tariff impact,” said the ERSE, in a document posted on its website.

According to regulator, “the updating exercises of the development and investment plans for electricity grids, as provided for by law, should contemplate the measures needed to ensure the adequacy of the grid and security of supply, focusing, however, only on the timeframe of the PDIRD-E to which the updates relate.”

In this context, on “June 29, 2022, and covering the investment horizon 2021-2025, the PDIRD-E 2020 was approved by the Secretary of State for Environment and Energy, including the various investment programmes and projects contained therein, which amounted to a total of €888.8 million in total costs, already after the operator of the RND [national grid, overseen by E-REDES] made a reduction of €119 million compared to the amount included in its initial proposal, in line with the recommendations contained in the opinion issued by ERSE.”

The regulator highlighs that on “July 15, 2022, the RND operator submitted to ERSE its proposal for ‘PDIRD-E 2020 – Update 2022’, on which ERSE is responsible for organising a public consultation, for 30 days prior to the preparation of its report, followed by the issuing of the respective opinion.

“Based on the results of the public consultation, ERSE will issue a non-binding opinion, where it may recommend changes to the PDIRD-E 2020 update proposal presented by the DSO [Distribution System Operator, with the] approval of this proposal being the responsibility of the member of the Government responsible for the energy area,” reads the regulator’s statement, which requests comment from all interested parties by September 28.