2024-01-04 07:30:05
To decarbonize its electricity, Spain is taking advantage of a climate favorable to solar and wind energy and is investing massively in the latter. In 2023, half of the Spanish electricity mix should be of renewable origin. The country aims to become the leading European producer of green hydrogen.
In 2022, the share of renewable energies in the Spanish electricity mix rose to 42.2%, according to Spanish Electrical Network, the network manager of this country. A figure down 4.5% compared to the previous year when this share recorded a historic peak reaching 46.7%. The main reason for this decline is linked to the fall in hydraulic production of almost 40%, which reached a historic low level due to the drought. For the year 2023, renewable energies might represent 50% of annual electricity production.
In 2019, Spain defined a strategic energy and climate plan that sets the country’s targets for energy efficiency, renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions. By 2030, the country expects renewable energies to reach 74% of the electricity mix and by 2050, it is aiming for 100% renewables in its electricity production.
To achieve these objectives, the country is massively developing renewable energies. With an annual average of more than 2,500 hours of sunshine according to the national meteorological agency AEMET (Agencia Estatal de Meteorología), Spain can benefit from favorable conditions for the deployment of solar panels. Its vast territories, swept by the winds and sparsely populated, are also particularly conducive to the development of wind power. In 2022, the installed capacity of the renewable electricity fleet increased by 9.1% compared to the previous year. This increase is mainly linked to the increase in photovoltaic solar energy (+4,498 MW), whose installed power now represents 16.6% of total power, ahead of hydraulics (14.4%). Wind energy capacity increased by 1,400 MW in 2022 and remains the main technology, with 25.2% of the national electricity production fleet.
60% reduction in CO2 emissions linked to electricity production
Including nuclear power, which represents 20.3% of electricity production, the share of low-CO2 electricity production in Spain reached 62.5% of the electricity mix in 2022. Fossil fuels therefore still represent 37 .5% of electricity production. By 2030, the country has decided to phase out coal, which represents 2.8% of the electricity mix. It also plans to close all its nuclear power plants by 2035.
According to Red Eléctrica de España, Spain ranks second in terms of installed renewable energy in Europe, behind Germany, with a total capacity of 119,091 MW in 2022. That year, CO2 emissions associated with national electricity production increased by 23.8% compared to the previous year, but still remained 60.0% lower than the emissions recorded in 2007.
In its race to deploy renewable energies, Spain is also focusing on the development of hydrogen to cope with their intermittency. In 2020, the Spanish government announced a roadmap that planned to develop 4 GW (gigawatts) of electrolyzers by 2030. But the country has already met its targets for green hydrogen production capacity four times , since it now has a capacity of 15.5 GW. The country wants to become the leading European producer of green hydrogen. As proof of its commitment to this sector, Spain recently decided to invest 18 billion euros in green hydrogen to produce and distribute hydrogen produced from renewable energies.
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