Spain sets new solar target of 76 GW for 2030 – pv magazine International

September 25, 2024 Pilar Sanchez Molina

From the pv warehouse in Spain

The Council of Ministers of Spain has approved the Royal Decree updating the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC 2023-30) in response to a proposal from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenges (MITECO). The project underwent public consultation in mid-2023.

A key objective of PNIEC 2023 is to promote renewable energy sources, storage and demand management to increase their integration. By 2030, Spain expects to install 76 GW of solar power, including 19 GW of photovoltaics for its own consumption. According to Red Eléctrica, the Spanish grid operator, 22,454 MW of solar capacity had been installed and connected to the grid in the country as of early September.

The plan also assumes the use of 62 GW of wind energy, including 3 GW of offshore wind, 1.4 GW of biomass energy and 22.5 GW of storage capacity, including the share of solar energy.

In addition, the new strategy includes a target of 12 GW of electrolyser capacity for green hydrogen production. The final renewable energy consumption target increases to 48%, from 81% of electricity generation, while the energy efficiency target increases to 43%.

APPA Renovables approached its new goals with some caution.

“Ambitious goals are good news for the sector, as long as they are accompanied by a strategy to achieve them. Our country has renewable resources that put it in a privileged position to carry out the energy transition and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels,” said José María González Moya, CEO of APPA Renovables. “But the reality is that we need to present more concrete and attractive measures to harness these energies if we want to achieve such ambitious goals.”

José Donoso, director general of Spanish trade group UNEF, said the challenge was ambitious but necessary to achieve decarbonisation and strengthen the country’s current competitive advantages.

“Spain is facing an industrial revolution for the first time in its history, which gives it a competitive advantage in terms of electricity prices, because thanks to photovoltaics we can produce electricity at a price less than half the European average,” Donoso added.

Popular content