The Spanish solar association Unión Española Fotovoltaica (UNEF) has submitted objections and proposed amendments during the consultation process for a planned Royal Decree, which is intended to regulate energy requirements for data centres in Spain and tie their operation to the use of renewables. UNEF supports this approach in principle but is calling for gradual and flexible implementation.
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Specifically, UNEF is proposing an additional criterion that would extend to six years the requirement that newly built renewable installations must cover the electricity demand of data centres. According to the association, too short a timeframe could mean that solar projects fail to secure financing and that data centres cannot be built due to a lack of suitable generation capacity.
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UNEF also advocates a phased introduction of the temporal correlation between green power generation and consumption. The decree stipulates that data centres must cover 80 percent of their electricity demand from renewable sources, a target UNEF supports, though it suggests initially allowing annual assessment before moving later to quarterly correlation. The timetable should be set out in the decree itself to provide investment certainty.
UNEF: back hybrid solar-storage installations
Technical curtailment losses, situations in which solar installations have to reduce output due to grid constraints, should also be recognised when assessing compliance with the requirements, UNEF argues, since operators should not be penalised for circumstances beyond their control.
The association further argues for broadening the permitted forms of power purchase agreements (PPAs) to enable greater competition and easier financing for new solar installations, and wants the regulation to provide stronger support for hybrid installations combining photovoltaics and battery storage, in order to extend the supply of clean power and reduce curtailment losses.
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"If the aim is to develop data centres by seizing the opportunity that photovoltaics offers for highly competitive electricity prices, regulation must be flexible and support the profitability and financing of these installations," stresses José Donoso, Director General of UNEF. (nhp)
