Photovoltaics surpasses gas and already provides almost 10% of electricity in mainland Spain | Companies

The revolution is accelerating. According to Red Eléctrica de España (REE), in the first two months of 2024, solar photovoltaic energy – by far the most economical source in well-resourced regions – provided 9.87% of the electricity produced on the Spanish mainland. Thus, it surpasses combined cycles—power plants that produce electricity by burning natural gas—to become the fourth largest source of energy supply, behind only wind power…

The revolution is accelerating. According to Red Eléctrica de España (REE), in the first two months of 2024, solar photovoltaic energy – by far the most economical source in well-resourced regions – provided 9.87% of the electricity produced on the Spanish mainland. It thus surpasses combined cycles—power plants that produce electricity by burning natural gas—to become the fourth-largest source of energy supply, behind only wind power at record levels, stable nuclear power, and hydroelectric power restoring power after persistent drought in the basins. from which it feeds.

At the moment, in 2024, photovoltaic energy is actually the second fastest growing technology in the Spanish energy matrix: 10.16%, second only to hydraulics, which increases its production by 10.9% at the beginning of the year thanks to recent rains. On the opposite side of the table are the two most polluting sources: coal (-33.4% year-on-year) and gas combined cycle (-30.3%), which have become less needed due to the strong performance of wind power. solar and hydroelectric energy, and also because demand has not increased.

To provide context for the turmoil occurring in the peninsula’s electricity market, one only needs to look at the recent past. In 2021, the first year of the price crisis, PV was still the sixth technology behind wind, nuclear, combined cycle, hydraulics and cogeneration (which, like combined cycle, also burns gas but is associated with heat-intensive industrial activities).

Historically good February for renewable energy

In February, both wind turbines and panels set all-time highs for this time of year. Both March and April point in the same direction: more hours of sunshine, frequent storms and mild temperatures (below the threshold at which plates begin to lose performance) paint an unrivaled picture for renewable generation. Given these challenges – and with PV already outperforming combined cycles as well as installed capacity – there will be a long way to go in the coming months to ensure PV doesn’t close out the year ahead of gas-fired power plants.

“Photovoltaics will be out of cycles all spring,” he predicts. Francisco Valverde, independent analyst of the electricity sector. “In the summer, with the arrival of warmth, the cycles can again surpass it. But by the end of the year he will be clearly ahead.” This calculation does not take into account self-consumption settings, which have grown exponentially during the three years of the energy crisis and which already affect the demand and price of electricity during the central hours of the day: with them, the order of things would change. came long before that.

Rafael Salas, professor at the Complutense Institute for Economic Analysis, also confirms that by the end of the year, photovoltaics will be “much higher than gas”: “It will be a huge difference, and this is just the beginning. This is another point of no return.” Salas places “particular significance” on the fact that this progress occurred in the winter, “when there are fewer hours of sunshine and the sun is lower, reducing photovoltaic generation,” and when more gas should be flowing into the system. “It is true that in February the cycles were particularly low, but in January, on the other hand, they had to produce a lot… One compensates for the other.”

Photovoltaics are ahead – and still a long way off – wind, nuclear and hydraulic. Three equally environmentally friendly sources that, together with the panels, cover almost 80% of the electricity needs of mainland Spain: both domestic consumption and growing exports, especially to the rest of Europe via France. However, at the current pace, and with the first nuclear power plant closures set to begin in the second half of this decade, groups are destined to continue climbing the ladder in the coming years.

Batteries and electrification, keys

The big challenge for the photovoltaic industry in the future will be to prevent an important part of its production from going into limbo. By its very nature, this technology concentrates energy production during the part of the day when the sun is shining, which does not necessarily coincide with the hours of greatest demand. To avoid such waste, there are two possible ways: move all possible consumption to the central part of the day and increase the pace of installation of batteries and hydropumping units.

California has 18.5 gigawatts (GW) of photovoltaic power and nearly 8.2 gigawatts of batteries; Germany – 83.4 and 7.2, respectively. In Spain, where there are almost 25 GW of photovoltaic systems and the number is predicted to exceed 76 by the end of the decade, the first battery entered the daily wholesale market auctions just a few weeks ago. “We are far behind: we need to speed up, create mechanisms so that they enter as quickly as possible. This is the solution and what needs to be promoted at this time,” urges Salas.

“Batteries are needed, and they are needed now: not in the medium term, but in the short term,” concludes Valverde, who believes that “although the discharge is undesirable, the current level is not scandalous: in fact, it is just ridiculous.” compared to other European countries.” “It’s not the end of the world as some say, but of course we need to move forward on storage… And above all, increase demand through more electrification.”

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