Intersolar Summit Spain

In 2020, Solar PV power across the European Union (EU) has shown strong resilience despite the Covid-19 pandemic. EU Member States installed 18.2 GW of solar power capacity in 2020, an 11% improvement over the 16.2 GW deployed in the previous year. This made 2020 the second-best year ever for solar in the EU. Despite being under a severe economic crisis, last year’s market leader Spain remains in the Top 3 solar markets in Europe with more than 2.6 GW installed, according to SolarPower Europe's "EU Market Outlook For Solar Power 2020-2024." The forecasts for future development remain promising. According to SolarPower Europe, Spain is expected to have a total installed solar PV capacity of 29.0 GW by 2024 in the medium scenario, making it the second largest solar market in Europe.

The role that corporate sourcing, Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), RES auctions, grid access regulatory framework, and self-consumption will play in this process, and which obstacles still have to be overcome, will be topics of discussion at the digital edition of Intersolar Summit Spain 2021.

If you are interested in the Spanish solar market development, do not hesitate to register for your Early Bird ticket now!

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Diverse range of formats

• Keynotes
• Expert presentations
• Executive panel discussions
• Exhibition area
• Networking via roulette, group or 1:1 meeting function (chat or video)

Current market topics

• Spanish solar PV market
• Corporate sourcing
• Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs)
• RES auctions
• Grid access regulatory framework
• Self-consumption

Expected attendees

• Energy procurement/purchasing managers
• Manufacturers
• Distributors
• EPC companies
• Installers
• Investors
• Law firms

The future for solar is bright. Despite the setbacks of covid-19, the European solar market grew by 11%, making 2020 the second-best year ever for solar in the EU. In Spain, despite being also hit by covid-19, more than 2.6 GW of new PV plants got connected to the grid. To set the basis for future years, the Ministry for the Ecologic Transition and the Demographic Challenge undertook several regulatory changes.

This year, we will see the results of these changes: In January, there was a renewable energy auction that assigned over 1.0 GW to new PV plants to be built over the next two years. In addition, we will see the completion of the grid access procedure with new online platforms for permits request and new capacity criteria, as well as, the new National Strategy on self-consumption. We are eager to see how PPAs shape the spanish solar market in 2021.

A new renewable auctions scheme was introduced in Spain in 2020 including a calendar for auctioning at least 3.0 GW a year up to 2025. The auctions grant a fixed price per energy generated during 12 years and in their first session, held the 26th of January 2021, assigned 3.0 GW to wind and solar PV with an average price of 25 €/MWh. In the future, other technologies such as CSP and biomass will also be included.

• What do the results of 2021 tell us?
• Are we going to see higher or lower prices in the following years?
• How this new scheme will affect the development of PPAs?
   

Despite the regulatory changes of last years that introduced an enabling regulatory framework for self-consumption in Spain, there are still barriers to overcome. The permitting is yet the main burden to be borne by the installers and consumers, as many municipalities are not yet used to PV rooftop installations and they demand excessive requisites. The Government is preparing the National Strategy on this topic that will set targets and specific measures to promote this activity.

• What do we need to know about the National Strategy on self-consumption?
• What can we learn from other countries that have been also taking measure to promote it?

In recent years, grid access permits have already been granted that were significantly above the capacity targets set in the Spanish National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) for 2030. For this reason, the government introduced a moratorium in the new requests  in 2020 and changed the regulatory framework by introducing several milestones to be achieved after obtaining the permit. This had an immediate impact in this promotion activity, resulting in many projects discarded or restarted.

• What are the most important changes in the new grid access framework?
• What are the challenges that remain? How can these be solved?

This session will explore how corporates can act as off-takers in Spain, what are the common roadblocks, and the key learnings from corporate buyers in Spain. We will look into:

• What is the impact of corporate sourcing of renewable electricity on economic growth and jobs?
• How does the market for corporate sourcing of renewable energy in Spain look like?
• What needs to change to allow for more corporate PPAs?
   

In order to close financing needed to realise renewable energy projects, banks and financiers need to evaluate the offtakers of the projects – increasingly corporate buyers. From the opposite perspective, corporate buyers signing PPAs are increasingly seeking to manage the risks inherent to a PPA. This session will present the point of view of banks, financiers, and corporate buyers when assessing corporate PPAs:

• The importance of the bankability of the offtakers
• Financing projects with debt and equity: Potential pitfalls
• How to mitigate PPA risks from the buyer perspective