The Unión Española Fotovoltaica (UNEF) will tomorrow open the sixth edition of its Solar Forum, the reference event of the Spanish PV sector, at the Puerta América Hotel in Madrid.
At the last edition of the Solar Forum, PV expectations in Spain were high, as indicated by a slogan which suggested solar as the technology to lead the energy transition. One year on, those expectations were not misguided. If there is a technology which exploded in popularity this year, it was undoubtedly PV. Installed solar generation capacity grew a spectacular 35% in mainland Spain in the first eight months of the year, practically all of it in the May to August period.
The role of the PV as the main element of the new energy model, highlighted in this year’s forum theme, does not appear far‑fetched. The increase in self‑consumption solar installations is helping decentralize electricity generation, one of the important points of the energy transition.
Large PV installations are also gaining ground on fossil fuels in the production mix. This year, coal-fired power plants generated almost 9.400 TWh in the Spanish mainland electricity system – PV reached 7.5 TWh. Add solar thermal generation and the figure tops 12.4 TWh, clearly ahead of coal.
This edition of the UNEF event will feature national and international speakers, experts in PV technology, energy markets and energy policy. Topics as important for PV as self‑consumption, power purchase agreements, the Plan Nacional Integrado de Energía y Clima, renewables auctions, energy storage and the electricity market will be discussed.
AleaSoft will participate in a roundtable entitled Merchant projects, PPAs or auctions, which is the best strategy for a company? Are auctions necessary at the moment? What would be the ideal auction model? Do PPAs have limits? How can annual income be estimated in a merchant project? That event is due to take place on Wednesday.
