Spain put up 2.5 GW of self-consumption solar in 2022, org says

Spain installed 2,507 MW of new solar capacity for self-consumption in 2022, an increase of 108% compared to 2021 installations, Spanish solar PV industry association Unef said on Monday.

In 2021, some 1,203 MW of self-consumption solar arrays were commissioned, according to Unef’s count. The association estimates that Spain now has 5,249 MW of solar operating in this regime, after adding more and more capacity each year ever since the detested “Sun tax” on prosumership was abolished in 2018.

The biggest driver of the 2022 installations was the industrial sector, responsible for 47% of the capacity. The residential sector accounted for 32%, the commercial sector for 20%, with the remaining 1% installed off the grid.

The boost in installations last year was a result of high electricity prices caused by uncertainty triggered by the war in Ukraine, in combination with the availability of state aid from the government’s Covid recovery funds, said Unef’s director general Jose Donoso.

The good news is that all of Spain’s regions, except the Basque Country, have simplified administrative barriers and scrapped building permits for self-consumption, which with local incentives contributed to the adoption, according to Donoso.

The challenge for the solar installation sector is that it is facing a lack of trained professionals, which Unef plans to address by designing a training plan and by working with education centres and universities, the organisation said.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!