RE Spanish market
The Spanish government backing of renewable energies as a strategic industry, the FIT regulation on which it is based together with the exceptional wind and solar profile, has pushed Spain into the number two ranking in the global renewable energy market. The Spanish renewable energy environment is one of the best in the world as acknowledged by the EU Commission (12/07/05).
The renewable energy market in Spain started to become a reality at the end of 1997 with the publication in December of 1997 of the government’s PLAN DE FOMENTO DE LAS ENERGÍAS RENOVABLES (PER - Renewable Energy Promotion Plan). This plan outlined the objectives that would cover the span of the years between 2000 and 2010. The second important event in the energy market came at the beginning of the year 2003 when the energy market was liberalized and customers could freely decide on their provider and restrictions on the production and distribution of electrical energy were removed. During this period, the PER has been revised in 2005 and several Royal Decrees (laws) have been published regulating the energy scenario to accommodate the Kyoto protocol as well as both Spanish changing energy policies and EU directives. The major objective of the revised PER for the period 2005 to 2010 is to establish energy goals to reach in each type of renewable energy production as resumed in the following table.
Once these sustainable energy objectives were established it was up to the legislation to establish the proper legal framework to promote the corresponding private initiatives. The most important of these legal frameworks in Spain is probably the publication of the Royal Decree, or law, 661/2007 whereby a fully regulated environment was provided to promote the renewable energy market on the basis of feed in tariffs (FIT). The production of energy generated from sustainable sources was defined and broken into the following categories:
a. Energy produce from cogeneration plants
a.1. High efficiency cogeneration (four subgroups)
a.2. Cogeneration plants using sustainable sources as the primary energy source
b. Energy produce from solely from sustainable sources such as biomass or biofuels, as long as the the license holder is not also a producer of energy using traditional means.
b.1. Primary source from solar energy
b.1.1. Photovoltaic
b.1.2. Solar Thermal
b.2. Primary source from wind energy
b.2.1. On land
b.2.2. On water
b.3. Geothermal
b.4. Hydroelectric (< 10 MW)
b.5 Hydroelectric (> 10 MW, < 50 MW)
b.6 Biomass (cultivated or harvested)
b.7 Biomass (residual or biofuels)
b.8 Biomass (Industrial residues or byproducts)
c. Energy produce from waste materials not contemplated in b.
The actual FIT for each subgroup is specified in tables in the Royal Decree and fixed tariffs for initial time spans of between 15 and 25 years depending on the technology and primary energy source used and is followed by another tariff, usually lower, for the time after the initial period. The tariffs can also be increased depending on efficiencies, voltage levels and power factors achieved. If the power supplier is grid connected then the grid or local energy utility is obligated to pay the operator according to these tariffs and receive the difference between the established energy prices and the FITs from the government.
The FITs specified by the government have been so attractive in fact, that initial basic photovoltaic FITs have had to be modified from the initial,
|
b.1.1 |
< 100 KW |
First 25 years |
44.0381 €c/KWh |
|
afterwards |
35.2305 €c/KWh | ||
|
100 KW - 10 MW |
First 25 years |
41.7500 €c/KWh | |
|
afterwards |
33.4000 €c/KWh | ||
|
10 MW – 50 MW |
First 25 years |
22.9764 €c/KWh | |
|
afterwards |
18.3811 €c/KWh |
To breaking down the b.1.1 subgroup into two types, (Royal Decree 1578/2008)
|
b.1.1 | |||
|
Type I (Rooftop or building material PV for commercial or industrial constructions) |
I.1 |
< 20 KW |
34.00 €c/KWh |
|
I.2 |
> 20 KW |
32.00 €c/KWh | |
|
Type II (Installations not covered by Type II) |
|
|
32.00 €c/KWh |
Rooftop installations literally went through the roof as companies flocked to the highly lucrative FITs and these types of installations exceeded by far the expectations of the government. Finally, the licensing procedure requires a detailed administrative process but once obtained, the PV market is well subsidized and repeat operations are relatively easy.
The rest of the renewable energy platforms are basically on track, once again making Spain on of the most attractive markets in the world. Only biofuels have suffered setbacks during this period as importing the heavily subsidized biofuels from Brazil or the USA has been cheaper than local production.
Wind energy continues to be the renewable generator of choice although solar is catching up especially as solar-thermal plants in the pipeline come into production.
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