Spain Country Report

The aim of this country report is to provide a comprehensive overview of the new solar boom in Spain, along with key insights into its PV sector, regulatory framework, energy auctions, solar projects and the emergence of power purchase agreements (PPAs). Furthermore, this report aims to highlight the key challenges and opportunities for the future of Spain's solar sector, especially with its renewable energy targets for 2020.

Right now, the Spanish solar energy market is on the brink of a solar (r)evolution. In July 2017, the newly formed Spanish government organized two renewable energy auctions, in which it awarded 3.9 GW of capacity to solar energy projects, on top of the reported 20 GW pipeline that is still under review. The auction mandates that all of the awarded capacity has to be operational by 2020. This has reignited the Spanish solar energy market and has sparked great interest from both local and international players.

With the emergence of private PPAs in grid parity geographies and compelling innovations in the commercial models that underpin them, leading investors and lenders are starting to get comfortable with the idea of private offtake agreements. However, these financial tools do not come without their share of challenges related to offtake risk, contract duration and other contractual oddities when financing renewable energy projects with such agreements. Besides these barriers, solar PPAs are flourishing all over Spain.

The report is part of the preparation for the Solar Market Parity Spain conference that Solarplaza will organize on 14 March, 2019 in Madrid. The goal of this one-day event is to bring together 200+ high-level attendees, from national and international developers and investors to manufacturers and consultants, to explore and contribute to the comeback of the Spanish PV sector.

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