Print Friendly versionPublications
Survey of Energy Resources 2007
Solar Country Notes
Spain
The Instituto para la Diversificación y Ahorro de la Energía (IDAE), an organisation within the Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio, produced a Plan for the Promotion of Renewable Energy in Spain covering the period 2000-2010, which was approved by the Spanish Government on 30 December 1999. In 2005, IDAE produced a revision, in the shape of the Plan de Energías Renovables en España (PER) 2005-2010. This plan retains a commitment for renewables to cover at least 12% of total energy consumption in 2010, and for renewables to provide 29.4% of electricity demand in the same year. However, some of the specific objectives for individual sources have been modified. The current targets for the development of solar energy applications are summarised below.
-
low-temperature solar-thermal energy: the potential area of solar panels is estimated at 26.5 million m2; the objective for installations during 2005-2010 is 4.2 million m2. With the inclusion of the 0.7 million m2 in place in 2004, a total of nearly 5 million m2 of solar panels could be operational by the end of 2010. The total glazed area of solar thermal collectors in operation in 2005 was 527 000 m2, giving an output capacity of about 369 MWt.
-
solar thermo-electric energy: Spain has built up a particular expertise with regard to high-temperature systems, having conducted much research at the Plataforma Solar de Almería in the south-east of the country. The target for 2010 has been raised from 200 MW to 500 MW, with the proviso that the 200 MW limit on the granting of subsidies would have to be removed. It is now envisaged that by 2010 annual generation of electricity by Spanish solar thermo-electric power plants will be in the order of 1 300 GWh.
-
solar-photovoltaic: the potential resource is estimated at 2 300 MWp. The following targets have been set for installation during the period 2005-2010: 15 MWp in isolated installations; 205 MWp in fixed arrays of less than 100 kWp; 112 MWp in tracking arrays of less than 100 kWp, and 31 MWp in installations of greater than 100 kWp. The total increment of 363 MWp, when added to the 37 MWp of PV capacity existing in 2004, points to a total peak capacity of some 400 MW in 2010. At end-2005, 27.5% of PV capacity was off-grid and 72.5% grid-connected.
At the beginning of 2003 a 1.2 MWp solar PV plant covering 70 000 m2 was opened near the town of Tudela in the Navarre region. The location of the site receives 1 600 kWh/m2/yr solar radiation; while the central section of the 12 602 PV panels is connected to the grid, the remaining 'distributed' area will be used for research on a variety of PV technologies and types of panel.