Featured in Down to the wires 06-2024

Spain: Mulling a grid investment boost

Data from Spanish grid operator Red Eléctrica show that renewables accounted for 64.6% of the nation’s energy mix in April 2024 but grid congestion and price “cannibalization” are starting to ring alarm bells. Aurora Energy Research estimates that 1 TWh of curtailed clean energy was not compensated in 2023 – 1.2% of the total generated – at a cost of €2.1 billion ($2.3 billion) to consumers.

By

Pilar Sánchez Molina

10 Jun 2024

Grid access for more than 50 GW of renewables has been granted in Spain, for connection in the next three years. | Photo: Sofos Energia

Spain faces a large backlog of pending applications for new renewable energy plants, warned the European Commission in May 2023, adding that “grid capacity constraints limit the further integration of renewable energy into the electricity grid.”Upgrades to Red Eléctrica’s transmission networks are set by a five-yearly document approved by Spain’s Council of Ministers. Distribution grids, …

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