Solar PV capacity grows by 28.8% y/y in Spain in 2021

Spain increased the amount of installed solar PV capacity by 28.8% year-on-year in 2021 to reach 15,048 MW at the end of December, Spanish grid operator Red Electrica de Espana (REE) said on Friday.

With new capacity online, Spain’s solar farms were able to boost generation by 36.7% on the year and hold an 8% share in the 2021 power mix, REE said.

The year 2021 was good for wind power as well, as one out of every four megawatts installed in Spain came from wind energy. Installed wind power capacity rose by 2.5% compared to 2020, with the nation boasting 28,175 MW of wind farms in service by the end of the year.

The overall installation effort last year resulted in the addition of over 4,000 MW of new renewables, which helped Spain reach 63,896 MW of green capacity, according to REE.

All renewables together generated 121,305 GWh of power in 2021, up by 9.7% year-on-year. With this amount of output, renewables reached a record share of 46.7% in the national power mix. Wind farms were the top producers last year, leading the mix with a 23.3% share, the grid operator said.

On the other end are coal-fired power plants, which reduced their installed capacity by 34.3% compared to 2020. Last year, coal-burning plants produced 1.9% of Spain’s power, a far cry from their heyday in 2007 when they occupied almost a quarter of the nation’s electricity mix, REE added.

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