A group of industrial chief experience officers from the European PV industry met representatives from Spanish solar body UNEF, IDEA [the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance] and BNEF [Bloomberg New Energy Finance] as well as investment bankers and environmental experts at the Solar + Wind Congress 2019, sponsored and organized by Chinese media company PV Box.
The one-day summit saw participants present the latest research and insights into the European market – especially Spain and Italy, share views and have group discussions.
UNEF general director Jose Donoso expressed an optimistic prediction for the solar market of Spain. He stressed there will be more than 4 GW of solar power purchase agreements signed this year, a great improvement on recent years. Furthermore, said Donoso, the latest estimation for PV installation during 2020-2030 will be around 28 GW to achieve the government target of clean energy installation of 42% of the total new capacity for 74% clean electricity generation.
However, representatives from industrial aspects might be a little bit more conservative to this figure. Javier Revuelta, principal of Povry Management Consulting, warned that the Spanish target of PV installation is not so easy to achieve, and if the government tries to intervene to push the market moving forward, this may distort the market and cause investment losses and hurt the market again. Giovanni Terranova, co-founder of Bluefield Partners LLP also showed his concerns which by his word, “there are still lots of uncertainty ahead”.
Joan Groizard Payeras, director of renewable energy and electricity markets from IDEA, the Spanish governmental energy research institute, gave a lecture about the whole picture of the country’s future energy structure including the PV sector. Constrained by the commitment of CO2 deduction, Spain is promoting a more aggressive plan on renewable energy including PV. The planned total subsidy to PV will be at least €1 billion by end of 2025, besides with more policy support. Along with the development of renewable energy, GDP increasing and employment creating will be achieved.
Referring to the most attractive topic, the PPA market of Spain, participants joined several animated discussions.
Oscaar Barrero, energy consultant from PwC España gave an introduction about the general PPA market of Spain. And then after a same introduction about Italian market made by Carlo Frezza, sales manager of EGO, they two had a discussion about the comparison and difference between the PPA markets of Spain and Italy. Considering the initial stage in Italy, the PPA market is facing more difficulties in Apennines.
Kim Keats Martínez, director of EKON Strategy Consulting provided his view of the wholesale electricity price dynamics of Spain. His insight reveals the coming price trends in different energy sector based on varies influential factors. For solar, he said that “EKON remains optimistic that profitability of renewables will be satisfactory. But we are also more pessimistic since we do not believe that market are adequate to reach the government’s aggressive capacity goals under the NECP.”
When talking about the potential utilization of battery storage in PV sector, Luis Miguel Palancar, the Managing Director of Spanish branch of BBVA investment banking raised an interested dilemma: considering the non-profitability of battery storage in quite a long term, which decision could be better, whether to invest more on battery storage in solar and wind sector to increase the plant efficiency, or to invest more purely on solar and wind plant for redundant capacity, to reach the government clean energy target, 74%? The census for storage is that it is needed to prepare in storage, but the market is far from growing.
All participants sing high praise in the organization and host of PV Box, which successfully delivered a high level summit about Spanish PV market. It is a very good opportunity to gather and talk about the prospective of Spanish PV market, ahead of another wave to peak time. To PV Box, it is the first show in Spain, but it is just a beginning.
About PV Box:
PV Box is a vertical media with websites, magazines, conference forums and PV training, currently is one of the largest media in China. The company provides market intelligence and sources asset-based investment opportunities in emerging markets. The company’s mission is to create an experience of strategic goals and creative activities that meet clients' requirement. With market research, authoritative news, and events, PV Box is the leading information services provider for this next-generation electricity system.
