New heights for renewable energy generation in Spain as solar leads growth

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Image: Iberdrola.

Solar PV has been the driving factor behind the growth of Spain’s green energy sector so far this year, with renewables generation between January and September up 16.3% on the same period of 2019.

New figures from grid operator Red Eléctrica de España (REE) reveal that PV’s generation was 67.5% higher year-on-year, followed by hydropower, which was up 41.6%.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

Not ready to commit yet?
  • 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

Thanks to good weather conditions and the deployment of additional capacity, renewables made up 43.1% of total national production as of September, 7.5 percentage points more than in 2019. However, despite more than 650MW of new generation installed so far this year, wind power posted a slight decrease in generation.

The figures show solar in Spain has maintained its growth from last year, when the sector posted a record amount of installed capacity – consisting of 4,201MW of ground-mounted arrays and 459MW of distributed projects – meaning for the first time since 2008, the country was the leading PV market in Europe. The Spanish Photovoltaic Union said the build-out positions the PV sector as an engine for economic growth and job creation.

According to REE, the increase in renewables generation meant Spain’s energy system was able to reduce its amount of CO2 equivalent emissions by 28.7% in the first nine months of 2020.

The scale-up of green energy projects in Spain can be expected to grow after the country’s government earlier this year signed into law a raft of measures designed to remove barriers to the large-scale deployment of renewables.

Recent weeks have seen French oil major Total secure a development deal for 3.3GW of solar in the regions of Madrid and Andalucia, while industrial conglomerate GFG Alliance revealed plans to co-invest in Spanish solar and wind projects with a capacity of around 1.2GW.

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

Premium
August 18, 2025
Jonathan Touriño Jacobo explores evidence of systemic problems in the Iberian grid and some of the solutions following the blackout.
August 13, 2025
Madrid-headquartered renewables developer Elawan has signed a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to support a 150MW solar PV portfolio in northern Spain.
August 12, 2025
PV Hardware's latest generation of trackers can move up to two degrees post-to-post, more than the current industry standard of 1.75 degrees.
August 8, 2025
This week several solar developers have raised funds for projects around the world, including BRUC in Europe, Greenalia in the US, Qair in Mauritius and CREC in Philippines.
August 5, 2025
Sonnedix and Prosolia have acquired projects, while Iberdrola has signed a 34MW PPA with Burger King covering 109MW total.
July 31, 2025
Matthias Taft, the chief executive officer of renewables developer BayWa r.e., will leave the company at the end of August.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
October 2, 2025
London,UK
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines