While Germany maintains its dominance in solar and onshore wind in Europe, Spain's investments in these 2 technologies are starting to pay off as Rystad Energy Expects renewable energy generation accounting for 50% of the national output in Spain in 2023, beating France, Germany and the UK to this record.
Analysts say Spain has outpaced its European counterparts in terms of onshore wind that now accounts for over 20% of the national power generation. Natural gas still remains its main source of power generation, but it is phasing out coal at a fast pace. Nuclear power plants are also to be phased out by 2035.
Significant solar PV investments have also ramped up capacity and related generation in recent years, they point out.
Direct result of this success is lower consumer prices, according to the analysts that call it a critical achievement after the sky-high prices of 2022. Spot prices have lowered as compared to France this year. Average power prices in France have been 34% higher than in Spain, according to the market intelligence firm.
"While official data from the Spanish transmission system operator confirms more than 50% renewable power generation, power exports to France could disrupt further growth in 2023," observes Rystad. "Market fundamentals have created a disparity between Spain and France, causing an increase in exports from the Iberian country to its northern neighbor."
Nonetheless, it shows the reputation Spain is building as a net exporter of power in Europe transitioning from it being a net importer.
Recently, local solar association UNEF said Spain installed 6.22 GW of new ground mounted and self-consumption capacity in 2022 (see Spain Installed 3.7 GW New Ground Mounted PV In 2022).
.png?w=50&fm=png){kind=logo}