Spain To Hold 3.3 GW Wind And Solar Auction On 22 November
Aug 04, 2022
Spain's Ministry of Ecological Transformation announced on Monday that it will hold its next auction of wind and solar projects with a total capacity of 3,300 megawatts on November 22.
Project proponents will compete for 1,800 MW of solar photovoltaic and 1,500 MW of wind power, including the possibility of expanding or blending existing facilities.
The auction will be conducted under a "pay-as-you-bid" pricing rule and projects will be influenced to some extent by market prices. The ministry said that successful bidders would not be allowed to participate in future pay-as-you-go auctions to prevent them from abandoning the regulatory regime for the current round of awards in order to take advantage of the opportunity in the next tender.
The announcement of the new auction comes just ten days after the Spanish government announced that it would be holding bids for 520 MW of concentrated solar power (CSP), distributed solar PV, biomass and biogas projects on 25 October.
In addition to the news of the auction, the Ministry of Ecological Transition has simultaneously introduced a series of new measures to improve energy efficiency and reduce waste in electricity and gas consumption in response to the EU's call for solidarity, while the EU prepares for possible gas cuts in Russia.
These include measures such as requiring shop windows and unoccupied public buildings to turn off lights after 10pm, but also speeding up the licensing process for grid projects and setting rules for connecting facilities that produce renewable gas or hydrogen.
The Spanish government hopes these measures will quickly reduce electricity and fossil gas consumption and promote the electrification of the economy. It says that behavioural changes could lead to a 5% drop in demand for petrol and gasoline in the short term.
Among the initiatives to support the rapid electrification programme, the government has called for state aid for energy storage projects combined with renewable energy sources. The Ministry of Ecological Transformation is also launching a public consultation on proposals to update Spain's National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), which will incorporate the country's and the EU's new energy transition targets.
