Dániel Stemler | According to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, the union is on track to meet its 2020 renewables target. Spain’s share of renewables in gross final consumption of energy is 16.2% share, so only 3.8% of its 20% target.
There is no question about the importance of the renewables auction due to take place between now and June if we take into account that installed renewables power in Spain (excepting hydraulic) is 31.216 Mw. So in other words, the new installations will increase this energy park by 10%.
The Industry Minister is preparing a new renewable energy auction for the end of March. It plans to invite tenders for 3,000 technology neutral MW. This will try to avoid some of the mistakes made in the previous one at the start of 2016. Furthermore, it is another boost for these technologies to comply with the EU directive of fulfilling at least 20% of its total energy needs with renewables by 2020.
In 2016, Spain’s Energy Ministry needs to revise the parameters related to the adjustment of green energy premiums included in the 2013 electricity sector reform. The proposal which Energy Minister Alvaro Nadal has sent to the National Competition Commission, pending amendments in order to have it ready before end-year, has not gone down well with green energy producers. They say that the proposal, as it is, limits the premiums and does not allow them to reach the stipulated reasonable rate of return.
The European Commission has recently presented its energy plan for the period 2021-2030. The tightening up on legal security for investors will especially benefit Spanish renewable installations.
The Industry Ministry is preparing new renewable energy auctions. It plans to invite tenders for between 3,000 and 4,000 technology neutral MW. That means auctions in which any kind of renewable energy can compete: wind, biomass, thermosolar, photovoltaic etc. This new boost for the renewables is happening to ensure Spain complies with the EU directive of fulfilling at least 20% of its total energy needs with renewables by 2020.
The Spanish wind energy company will start to operate in the Dutch market with an agreement to provide 11 MW and has also signed other five in France, Italy and Greece to install about 72 MW. Gamesa Dutch project entails replacing old turbines in different wind farms –three G58-850 kW units and ten G52-850 kW units.
Isolux is a Spanish midcap which operates in the construction business and in the maintenance of large infrastructures in over 40 countries. It has been forced to reach an agreement with its principal creditors to avoid bankruptcy.
Eusun Cho | Leading up to the Independence Referendum in 2014, one way Scotland sought to differentiate itself from the United Kingdom was through its environmental policy. The Scottish government published a draft interim constitution that separated out the government’s duty to protect the environment in a separate clause.
Spain’s renewable energy market is expected to see further consolidation activity in 2016, with transactions estimated at around €4 billion euros, in line with a year earlier. The fragmented nature of the industry and asset disposals by European firms will fuel M&A.