Only 50 of the 3,300 megawatts of wind and photovoltaic power awarded in today's auctions

Barely fifty megawatts would have been awarded in the bidding, according to the agency Europa Press, which cites "industry sources". One of the successful bidders would be the company Elawan, with about thirty megawatts (30 MW). However, the result of the auction must be validated by the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC). Last October's auction resulted in a weighted average price of 31.65 euros per megawatt hour (E/MWh) for photovoltaic technology and 30.18 E/MWh for wind power. However, these prices, in the current situation, would have varied substantially upwards, according to Europa Press, to make the development of projects attractive. This new renewables auction put a total of 3,300 MW of renewable energy at stake, structured in two power quotas: one of 1,800 MW for photovoltaic and the other of 1,500 MW for wind power.

The Government had already launched three auctions for the allocation of the Renewable Energy Economic Regime (REER). Two, held in January and October 2021, had also focused on photovoltaic and wind technologies, allocating a total of 2,902 MW of photovoltaic and 3,256 MW of wind, at prices much lower than those registered in the wholesale electricity market, being a success.

However, the third auction, which took place a few weeks ago, was already a warning for today's auction, as it ended up with a puncture, awarding only 177 MW of the 520 MW that were put in competition, leaving deserted all that was available for solar thermal.

The cabinet headed by Teresa Ribera estimated that this auction, if the goal of covering the full 3,300 MW had been achieved, represented a gas saving of 11,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year, 2.9% of total gas consumption in Spain in 2021, and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of about 2.7 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent. In addition, the forecast contemplated that the investment required to execute the awarded power would be around 2,900 million.

In the auctions to obtain the REER, developers bid for the price they are willing to charge for the energy generated by their plants - 12 years in the case of wind and photovoltaic - with some exposure to the market price.

As in the other auctions, the winning companies were also required to submit a strategic plan with estimates of the impact on local employment and the industrial value chain. The winning installations will be denied access to future REER auctions, according to Europa Press, in order to discourage them from renouncing the regime granted in this auction in order to participate in a subsequent auction.