ANPIER urges Spanish authorities to curb construction of mega-solar projects

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Europe’s largest PV plant, the 500MW Núñez de Balboa park in Spain, was completed by Iberdrola last year. Image: Iberdrola.

Spain should limit the size of new solar parks to encourage the deployment of smaller projects located closer to consumers, the country’s National Association of Photovoltaic Energy Producers (ANPIER) has said.

This would reduce the amount of electricity lost in transmission and allow communities across the country to benefit from new project construction, according to the trade body.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Some 99 solar projects larger than 10MW were registered in Spain between 2016 and 2020, six of which have a capacity greater than 100MW. The country is home to Europe’s largest PV plant, a 500MW installation from Iberdrola, and currently has three projects with a capacity of 300MW or higher under development.

The trade association said “excessive speculation by large investment funds is taking advantage of the weaknesses of our administrations and the lack of citizen information to implement almost infinite surfaces of photovoltaic panels”, adding that these mega-projects are “already saturating networks”.

ANPIER president Miguel Ángel Martínez-Aroca said that large industry players can take advantage of economies of scale to develop the projects, resulting in “economic returns leaving our country”.

Instead of backing such installations, ANPIER is calling on authorities to instead support the deployment of smaller solar projects with a capacity of between 1MW and 10MW, a strategy it said would not increase the cost of electricity distribution.

The trade body said other European countries have successfully deployed small and medium-sized PV plants that it claims are better integrated into rural areas and owned by local initiatives.

With Spain’s new auction mechanism foreseeing at least 10GW of PV to be awarded by 2025, the first auction saw PV bidders pick up more than 2GW of capacity, divided into 66 lots, with an average lot capacity of 30MW.

While UNEF said the results illustrate the competitiveness of Spain’s solar sector, the trade association called for upcoming auctions to have 20% of capacity reserved specifically for PV projects smaller than 10MW.

2 December 2025
Málaga, Spain
Understanding PV module supply to the European market in 2026. PV ModuleTech Europe 2025 is a two-day conference that tackles these challenges directly, with an agenda that addresses all aspects of module supplier selection; product availability, technology offerings, traceability of supply-chain, factory auditing, module testing and reliability, and company bankability.

Read Next

June 30, 2025
Eni subsidiary Plentiude has started operations at the northern block of its 330MW Renopool solar portfolio in Spain.
June 30, 2025
The Spanish government has launched a €100 million (US$117 million) aid programme to help promote the recycling and reuse of materials from renewable energy projects.
June 27, 2025
Renewables investment platform Nexwell Power has signed a round of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with “one of the largest” US tech companies for solar PV capacity to be built in Spain.
June 25, 2025
The Spanish government has approved a series of measures aimed at reinforcing the electrical system and strengthening the supervision of operators.
June 25, 2025
Spanish energy utility giant Iberdrola has appointed the former CEO of its US renewable energy development subsidiary, Avangrid, as its new head.
June 24, 2025
FRV has started commercial operations at its 55MW Masrik-1 PV project in Armenia, the largest to enter operation in the country.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
July 2, 2025
Bangkok, Thailand
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
September 2, 2025
Mexico City, Mexico