The promotion of renewable energies is one of the main pending issues of the Catalan economy. Last year’s data from Red Eléctrica Española (REE) show that the autonomous community contributed only 4.5% of the green production of the Spanish market, while the installed power barely represents 4.8%. Both indicators suffer a relative worsening compared to 2022. Despite the Generalitat’s efforts to boost the sector, its implementation is far from the records of Spain as a whole.
The sector in Catalonia grows much more slowly than in the entire country. During 2023, the renewable installed power in Spain has increased by 8.8% compared to the previous year and already represents more than 60%. In total, 6,300 green megawatts (MW) have been incorporated, of which almost 5,600 MW correspond to photovoltaic solar technology. REE data indicate that Catalan renewables barely increased their power by 0.5%, reaching 31% of the total.
In terms of production, Catalonia was the leader with 38,267 gigawatt hours (GWh), but green energy only represented 15.7%. On the other hand, half of the energy generated in Spain came from renewable sources. The generation from sources of sustainable origin only increased by 2.2% in contrast to the evolution of Spain as a whole (15.8%), which places Catalonia as the seventh autonomous community by contribution. In addition to the slowness to incorporate new energy sources of sustainable origin, Catalan production was affected by the poor performance of hydroelectric power, which is suffering the consequences of the drought. Sources from the Institut Català d’Energia (Icaen) qualify these data by pointing out that in the mix of the autonomous community there is a strong weight of nuclear energy, which distorts the comparisons.
In the last three years, the Generalitat has made efforts to boost the sector with measures such as the renewable deployment decree 24/2021. However, the fruits of the initiative have not yet been reaped. So far, no new wind projects have been launched, while new photovoltaic projects only total 20 MW.
Currently, the autonomous community has approximately 4,600 MW of renewables, with 1,376 MW of wind and 400 MW of photovoltaics (without taking into account self-consumption), according to sector estimates. The data for the month of March from the Climate Action Department indicate that there are projects of 1,650 MW of power authorized and another 2,206 MW are being processed, including the projects authorized by both Icaen and the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
If broken down by administration, the Generalitat, in charge of projects with a power of less than 50 MW, has authorized 1,650 MW and has 1,921 MW in process. The central government, responsible for projects larger than 50 MW, has 284 MW in the pipeline and has not authorized a single power park. Icaen sources indicate that the installed power in Catalonia from sustainable sources will be above 40% with the projects that have already received approval
Since the approval of decree 24/2021, the companies that have achieved the most generation capacity are Ignis Energy, owned by the Sieira family and several, (327 MW of solar), the German firm IB Vogt (148 MW of solar and 50 MW of wind) and Solaria, controlled by the Díaz-Tejeiro family (149 MW of solar). In the pipeline, those that accumulate the most MW are Forestalia, from the Samper Rivas family, (215 MW of wind and 84 MW of solar), Greencapital (172 MW of photovoltaic), and Enel, Endesa’s parent company, with 144 MW of wind.
One of the reasons that is delaying the implementation of renewables in Catalonia is the urban planning issue. “The Generalitat has created a single window in Icaen to expedite the majority of procedures, but the urban planning commissions have their own rhythm,” say Unef sources. Without planning approval, companies cannot obtain final planning permission. To start up a photovoltaic park, it takes 18 months from its approval.
The current context does not help the sector either. With interest rates high, companies are having trouble financing their projects. Furthermore, to this situation is added that this year electricity prices have reached minimum levels several times due to the strong production of renewables, driven by the entry of a lot of photovoltaic energy, whose production is concentrated in the central hours of the day.
“In addition, electricity demand should have increased by 5% annually and, on the contrary, we are seeing a contraction,” says the general director of APPA Renovables, José María González Moya. The sector was confident in the growth in demand due to the implementation of electric vehicles and the replacement of gas boilers with aerothermal heaters and heat pumps.
There are several explanations: a lower evolution of the energy transition in vehicles and homes, increased self-consumption, greater efficiency or falls in industrial consumption.
