Spain's renewables share drops to 46.2% in April as demand picks up

El Marquesado wind farm in Granada, Spain. Image by Iberdrola (www.iberdrola.com)

Spain’s power plants produced 46.2% of electricity with renewables in April, Spanish grid operator Red Electrica de Espana said in its latest estimates report.

The share of renewables in April’s total power production fell from 53.7% recorded a month earlier, which was then a decline from 58.9% in February, the figures show. REE highlights that April also saw an 11% increase in the production of “green gigawatt-hours” compared to the same time in 2020.

Nuclear power plants were the top electricity producers in April, generating 21.1% of the total output, followed by wind farms and combined cycle power plants. The solar power technologies -- photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) -- both ramped up output in year-on-year terms.

More details are given in the table below:

Technology:	Share in April:	Estimated production in April (in GWh):	Y/Y change:	January-April combined share:
Wind	20.8%	4,151	12.3%	26.5%
Hydro	13.4%	2,674	-6.6%	17.1%
Solar PV	8.2%	1,634	42.3%	5.9%
Solar CSP	1.4%	273	31.9%	1%
Other renewables	2.0%	396	17.3%	1.7%
Nuclear	21.1%	4,211	3.1%	21.3%
Cogeneration	11.1%	2,213	14.7%	10%
Combined cycle	17.2%	3,429	58.2%	11.3%
Coal	1.4%	274	-10.2%	1.4%

Spain’s demand for electricity in April was estimated at 19,973 GWh, up by 17.1% year-on-year. REE gave two sets of figures to illustrate the evolution of the demand –- those for April 2020, when Spain spent a full month sheltering in place to tame the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, and those for April 2019.

Compared to April 2019, the nation’s demand for power decreased by 3.7%.

Demand figures for Spain’s three electricity systems separately are presented in the following table:

Territory	Demand in April 2021	vs April 2020	vs April 2019
Mainland Spain	18,940 GWh	+17.2%	-3.1%
Balearic Islands	377,746 MWh	+17.4%	-17.1%
Canary Islands	624,641 MWh	+13.9%	-10.9%