Spain’s latest auction round that was held on 22 November ended up empty for solar PV and with only 45.5MW of wind power awarded.
Announced last August, the fourth round was focused on solar and wind power with 1.8GW and 1.5GW of allocated capacity, respectively.
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Previous auctions saw more than 2GW of solar PV awarded in January 2021 and 866MW of solar PV in October 2021.
Earlier this month, the head of the country’s PV association UNEF, José Donoso, told PV Tech Premium that auctions were not “so attractive” for companies now due to high power prices in the spot market.
Only two companies were awarded in the auction for wind capacity, with prices ranging between €39.88-45.12/MWh (US$41.34-46.77/MWh), similar to Spain’s solar PPA prices in Q3 2022 which were around €40/MWh, according to a research from marketplace operator LevelTen Energy.
Many developers have not participated in the auction with Grenergy, Acciona and Endesa among them, with the latest telling PV Tech that: “Similar to the previous auction, the energy we produce in our plants is needed to cover the demand of our clients, due to our short energy position”.
The results are in stark contrast with neighbouring country Portugal which closed its floating solar auction with negative prices and showed the value of hybridising renewable assets.
Moreover, Portugal announced it will increase the tariffs of winning solar bidders in line with inflation and ensure the economical viability of the projects.