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Spain: 19.5 GW new solar PV capacity by 2023

According to SolarPower Europe’s Global Market Outlook 2019-2023 the prospects for the Spanish solar PV market are promising. As none of Spain’s solar tender-awarded or PPA projects were connected to the grid last year, Spain might turn into Europe’s largest PV market in 2019. Looking further ahead, the cumulative solar PV capacity in Spain might reach 25.4 GW by 2023, which would mean 19.5 GW new capacity in the next 5 years. Spain hence belongs to the top two prospects in Europe and to the top seven prospects worldwide according to SolarPower’s medium scenario.

Corporate sourcing and PPAs are on the rise

The termination of the solar tax will certainly push self-consumption systems in Spain. However, due to low cost solar the majority is expected to be tender-based PV power plants (ground-mounted) and PPA-based utility-scale systems. Corporate renewable PPAs help companies to reduce their energy costs, to follow their sustainability strategy and to lower their environmental footprint. It is therefore not surprising, that more and more companies are searching for ways to produce and/or procure renewable energy directly. According to the BayWa r.e. energy report 2019, 76% of companies in Spain are planning to increase their use of renewable energy. "This, together with the planned renewable capacity additions, creates a tremendous market opportunity for renewable energy sourcing and corporate PPAs”, says Tomás García, Managing Director, Solar & Wind Projects, Spain & Portugal at BayWa r.e and one of the speakers at Intersolar Summit Spain.

Three sessions shed light on the re-awakened Spanish solar market

The Spanish National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) foresees +30 new GW of PV to be installed by 2030. Intersolar Summit Spain, taking place on June 18 at Crowne Plaza Barcelona, will discuss in session 1 the vast potential of the PV market in Spain, the main regulatory drivers and opportunities related to auctions, grid parity and corporate sourcing. Attendees can look forward to high-class speakers from Soltec, Green Giraffe, Powertis and Red Eléctrica. Session 2 will especially focus on corporate sourcing case studies – Holaluz, First Solar, European Energy Exchange (EEX) and BayWa r.e. will talk about their lessons learnt. The last session is dedicated to the question: Corporate deals: How do we go from 0 to 10 GW by 2025? The changes needed in the next years to ensure a steady market growth will be discussed to allow all companies, including SMEs, to benefit from the sourcing of RE. Octopus Investment, Pexpark, Banco Sabadell and Engie will share their experience.

The Intersolar Summit Spain will take place in Barcelona on June 18, 2019. (HCN)