Renewable energies in Spain

As a summary, as we have already indicated in the introduction, we can say that renewable energies are those that come from energy sources or natural resources that are renewed by their normal cycle in an unlimited way. In addition, they barely contaminate and are also known as green or clean, the opposite that non -renewable or dirty energies. The main renewable energies are:

• Wind energy
• Geothermal energy.
• Hydraulic or hydroelectric energy.
• Solar energy.
• Mareomotor energy.
• UNDIMOTRIZ ENERGY.

In 2018, the European Union Agreement on Directive 2018/2001 relative to the European Union was approved Promotion of energy use from renewable sourceswhich should be applied by the Member States, no later than June 30, 2021.

With this regulation some are pursued Key objectives to be met for 2030which are:

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40%establishing for this an obligation to reduce these emissions, equivalent to 43% compared to the year 2005, to the sectors included in the EU Rights Trade Regime (RCDE), and 30% for the sectors not included in that category.
• Increase renewable energy quota by 32%for which, a clause has been established by virtue of which, a review of the quota for the year 2023 will be carried out.
• Increase by 32.5% the improvement of energy efficiencyas in the previous case, the directive includes a review by 2023.

To contribute to achieve the objectives established in the aforementioned directive, fulfilling the commitments adopted in The Paris Agreementthe EU has adopted a series of norms in terms of monitoring and notification between the Member States, in order to promote the transparency of the governments of the Member States regarding the application of the Directive through the improvement of the legislation, including consultations to citizens⁽¹⁾.

You can consult the Paris Agreement more: What consists of countries and objectives in this other ecology article.

Spain has been a country that has always been characterized by having a High energy dependence of fossil fuels, reaching its historical maximum in 2008, with a percentage of 81.3%. While it is true that this figure has been going down in recent years, the energy dependence of this country remains very high, placing in 73.4% in 2018, which places it almost twenty points above the European average.

However, and as a positive fact, it is in 2018 when positive change occurs In favor of renewable energy. According to the environmental profile of Spain (PAE) held in 2018 and presented in Madrid in November of that same year, an increase in energy from renewable sources of 18.6% with respect to 2017 was indicated, according to data from the Electric Electric objective is to share environmental information, where each indicator is described regarding its link to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals established in the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Know the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

To favor the production of energy from renewable sources to continue increasing, and based on reaching the provisions of the 2018/2001 Directive, the Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Ministry for Ecological Transition, approved the following Royal Decree:

Royal Decree 17/2019 of November 22, by which urgent measures are taken for the necessary adaptation of remuneration parameters that affect the electrical system and which responds to the process of cessation of activity of generation thermal plants, thus beginning the transition to ensure that Spain has a neutral energy system in emissions, which allows to achieve the objectives set by 2030.

This Royal Decree-Law includes two measures considered urgent, which will favor a socially fair energy transition And that we cite below:

• Concession of evacuation access to the network: for this, the norm establishes that procedures and requirements can be regulated so that social criteria (including the potential for employment creation) and also the criteria related to the environment, when it comes to granting access concessions to renewable energy projects.
• Awake use of waters associated with closed plants: through this measure it is established that it can be decided to grant a new concession for the use of these waters, also taking into account the criteria described to the previous extent.

The aforementioned regulations establish measures to use resources, as well as the reasonable profitability value applicable to renewable energy facilities (We recommend you consult this other article about how to install solar panels). It also updates the financial compensation rate in the production of electricity, reducing it to 5.58% between 2020 and 2025 (the last 5 years has been 6.503%), translating this average into a lower cost of light billboth for consumers and for the General State Budgets.

It should be noted that, in 2021, renewable energies produced in Spain up to 46.6% of electricity, much more than nuclear energy and natural gas together. And the 2023 was the most renewable year in history and marked the turning point in the ecological transition of Spain. 2023 was closed with a record fee of 50.8% of the national electricity “mix”, compared to 42.2% of 2022. It should be noted that in the current situation of renewable energies in Spain, wind energy and photovoltaic solar energy are the ones that contribute the most.

Now that you know renewable energies in Spain, to learn more about them, do not hesitate to consult the information offered by these Ecology posts where we talk more about what renewable energies and renewable and non -renewable energies are: examples and summary.

If you want to read more articles similar to Renewable energies in Spainwe recommend that you enter our category of renewable energy.