Half of electricity generation in 2023 will come from renewables, REE forecasts

Half of Spain's electricity generation will come from renewable sources by 2023. This was announced by Beatriz Corredor, president of Redeia, at the presentation of the main magnitudes of the system in 2022, in which the Secretary of State for Energy, Sara Aagesen, participated.

The company is making "a forecast of what will happen this year and we believe that we will reach the magic figure of 50% renewable participation in the national mix", explained Corredor. To say that in the Spanish electricity system 50% of the energy is renewable is a milestone that puts us on the path to compliance with the National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), which sets a target of 67% of renewable energy by 2026", said the president of Redeia.

If the forecasts are met, the share of renewable sources in the national generation mix would increase by 8 percentage points compared to last year. In 2022 they registered a share of 42.2%, 4% less than in 2021 due to the impact of the drought on hydraulic production.

During the past year, renewables added 5.9 new gigawatts (GW) to the Spanish generating fleet. Of these, 4.5 GW were photovoltaic and 1.4 GW were wind. This fact confirms the spectacular evolution of photovoltaic solar power: it was the year that saw the greatest growth in installed capacity, which enabled it to overtake hydroelectric power and become the third source in the ranking. For its part, wind power remains the leading technology: 1 out of every 4 MW in service in Spain is already wind power.

This new momentum has enabled wind to account for 22% of the mix and photovoltaic for 10%, with both technologies recording record production levels.

Spain is second only to Germany in the ranking of European countries with the highest installed renewable energy capacity, and also in terms of wind power installed capacity. In the case of solar power, it is the third country with the most capacity in service, after Germany and the Netherlands.

Networks and demand

Beatriz Corredor used her speech at the presentation of the new Redeia report to highlight the efficiency and security of the electricity grid in Spain compared to other countries. "The United States needs to make a multi-million dollar investment in improving its grid. In Spain we are way ahead, as our grid has a security and renewable integration capacity accredited in its 40 years of work, specifically since 2006, when the Renewable Energy Control Center (Cecre) was implemented.

Redeia's analysis highlights that the demand for electricity in Spain during the year 2022 presented a decrease of 2.4% compared to the previous year, reaching a total of 250.4 TWh demanded. After correcting for the influence of working hours and temperatures, the result is a reduction of 3.3%.

The report also confirms that last year was less cold in winter and warmer in summer. In fact, the maximum peninsular demand was recorded in the summer season, a fact that had not occurred since 2016. It was on July 14 between 14-15h with 38,003 MWh.