Renewable energy generation covered 54.9% of the demand of the Spanish electricity system in 2023, according to the first report from the Renewable Energy Observatory of the Sella Forum. This percentage is trading at a historical record of 134,315 gwh (Gigawatt hours) supplied to the system, a growth of 15.1% per year and 37.2% more than in 2019. THIS information is provided by the Opina 360 Social Research Institute with data from the Redeia electrical company.
Meanwhile, the system’s total generation fell by 3.5% compared to 2022 due to the drop in non-renewable sources (-17%), and this different evolution meant that renewables represented for the first time just over half of the generation mix. nationally, rising to 50.3%, eight points more than the previous year.
The sources that most drove the growth of green energy were solar photovoltaics, whose deployment allowed it to advance by 33.8% and set a new maximum (37,328 GWh), and hydroelectricity, which increased by 41.1% thanks to the recovery of the rains. . in various areas of the peninsula. Solar thermal also added 13.9% and wind energy registered an increase of only 2.2%, but still broke its record (62,569 GWh) and regained first place among generation sources. The rest of the renewable energies finished with lower volumes than the previous year.
Aragon and Extremadura stand out
By autonomous community, the largest increases in renewable generation in 2023 were located in Extremadura (31.9%), the Balearic Islands (28%), Galicia (23.9%), Asturias (20.5%), Castilla-La Mancha (20.3%) and Aragon. (18.9%). In terms of volume, Castilla y León, Aragón and Galicia stand out for having more than 75% of the total generation from renewable sources.
Compared to 2019, the largest increases in renewable production have occurred in Extremadura (187.7%), Aragón (119.4%), the Balearic Islands (89.7%), Castilla-La Mancha (56.9%) and Murcia (51%). On the other hand, there are six communities that last year recorded lower levels of renewable generation than four years before: La Rioja (-21.5%), the Basque Country (-21.1%), Catalonia (17.2%) , Cantabria (-10.7%), Asturias (-6.7%) and the Valencian Community (-6.2%).
The director of Opina 360, Juan Francisco Caro, has stated that some communities “have seen renewables as a great opportunity, not only to advance the decarbonization of the economy, but, above all, as a differentiating factor, because they can generate cheap and sustainable energy to attract industrial projects”. Caro has highlighted “two very significant examples of specialization”: Extremadura, which “has managed to position itself as a leader in photovoltaic generation”, and Aragón, which “is very close to overtaking Castilla y León as the leading wind producer with the projects it has. on going”.
Fall in production and demand
Regarding the decrease in generation in 2023, the report from the Renewable Energy Observatory of the Sella Forum relates it to lower national demand, since it fell by 2.3%, to 244,659 GWh. IT IS REDUCED FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR AND IS THE LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 2004. According to push The Observatory, in the last two years there has been a CLEAR DIVERGENCE between the growing economic activity and the lower demand for electricity on the grid, something Which, as indicated, is justified above all by “the strong impulse of self-consumption, both in the productive sectors and in homes.”
From the point of view of installed power, the system’s generation capacity increased by 6,253 MW (megawatts) last year, 5.2% more than in 2022, reaching 125,620 MW. Renewables added 6,261 MW, the largest increase in the last four years, compared to a decrease of 8 MW in non-renewable power. Practically nine out of every ten new megawatts of power corresponded to photovoltaic solar energy, which experienced its greatest growth in the series by adding 5,594 MW in a single year, while the rest of the renewable increase was concentrated almost exclusively in wind, with 661 MW more (2.2%).
61% of the installed power corresponds to renewables.
At the end of the year, renewable sources had 77,039 MW of installed power, which represents 61.3% of the total national electricity system, after advancing more than one point in four years. Solar energy (photovoltaic and thermal) is the second source with the highest capacity (27,853 MW), only behind wind (30,810 MW), and together they account for almost half of the national generation park (46.7%). .
In the case of photovoltaics, Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia and Extremadura concentrated three quarters of the new installed power, while in Asturias, Cantabria and Madrid no new capacity was installed and in five others the installed power was negligible. Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha remain leaders in photovoltaic capacity, with 49.1% of the national total. For their part, Aragón and Navarra led the deployment of wind energy, with nearly two-thirds of the new power. On the other hand, there were eight communities in which no new facilities were created, including Madrid, which is also the only one without wind power. Castilla y León, Aragón and Castilla-La Mancha have more than half of all the wind capacity in the country (54.4%).
The report indicates that, in the last four years, the implementation of renewable energies in the national electrical system has grown by 21,995 MW, 40% more, especially thanks to photovoltaic solar, which saw its power almost triple, with 16, 80 3 MW more (192.1%). Wind power, for its part, had an increase of 5,125 MW, 20% more. As a consequence, the deployment of renewables in this period has more than compensated for the decrease in the power of non-renewable sources, which was 6,326 MW (-11.5%), mainly due to the closure of coal plants (6,219 MW less) .
