Spain To Launch RE Auction On Jan. 26, 2021

• MITECO has announced January 26, 2021 as the date for the country's 1^st renewable energy auction under its new remuneration framework
• It will award 3 GW capacity with 1 GW each reserved for solar OV and onshore wind technologies
• For solar PV, onshore and offshore wind energy, along with solar thermal and hydropower projects, minimum power supply contract will be for 12 years

The Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has announced the date for its much awaited 1^st renewable energy auction under the new remuneration framework. It will be held on January 26, 2021 for 3 GW capacity.

Of this, at least 1 GW will be reserved for solar PV and another 1 GW for onshore wind, with the rest to be auctioned 'without technological restriction'. New projects or existing facilities in the peninsular electrical system and whose storage system, if available, will be used exclusively to store the energy produced by the facility may participate in the auction, according to the ministry.

Winning solar PV, onshore and offshore wind, solar thermal and hydropower projects will be required to supply electricity for at least 12 years and biomass, biogas and bioliquid technologies for 15 years.

Bids will be made on the price required for the energy produced and the volume of product awarded to the same company or business group may not exceed 50% (1.5 GW) of the product quota.

Interested bidders can access details of the auction on the ministry's website.

This auction is the start of a 5-year renewable energy auction plan Spain plans to hold between 2020 and 2025 after the country's Council of Ministers approved MITECO's Royal Decree in November 2020 (see Spain Plans To Tender 10 GW PV By 2025). Spain aims to have 60 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030 under its Integrated Climate Energy Plan (PNIEC) 2021-2030.

"The start of the auction calendar with the new Economic Regime for Renewable Energies is essential to comply with the decarbonisation commitments that Spain has acquired in the Paris Agreement and as a Member State of the European Union," stated MITECO and added, "This auction mechanism is, therefore, complementary to other promotion instruments, such as lines of aid for investment in renewables financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), executed by the Institute for Diversification and Savings Energy, or public guarantees for medium and long-term electricity supply contracts (PPAs)."

In a separate announcement, MITECO said it has come out with a new cartographic tool for the country as a guiding tool to access geographic information on different environmental conditions of the implementation of large scale wind and solar PV projects that can be connected to the grid. This tool, it says, is of strategic important if the country is to achieve its 60 GW renewable energy target under the overarching objective to have a 100% renewable electricity system by 2050.