We’re warming up nicely now, but the harshest cold spell in Spain in years this January coincided with a steep rise in electricity bills for Spanish households and businesses, with consumer group Facua suggesting that the price of electricity has increased by 27 percent so far in 2021.

It’s a common occurrence every winter in Spain, with the increased energy demand and a relative drop in output from renewables playing a part (although your solar panels do still work very well).


Did Somebody Say 'Renewables'?


While we’re on the subject, Spain's Ministry for the Ecological Transition proceeded with a planned national auction of renewable energies on Tuesday Jan 26th, awarding just over 3 GW...of which 2,036 correspond to photovoltaic and the rest to wind.

Of particular interest were the minimum prices:

  • SOLAR - 14.89 euros per MWh

  • WIND - 20 euros per Mwh

These are new records for the country, with the minimum price less than half of that established in the last auction held in July 2017


2020


The figures are also in for the performance of the European solar market in 2020 and, while things took a hit in March as the Covid-19 pandemic struck, the recovery in the second half of the year has even surprised many of the analysts.



PP Eh?


Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) are the contracts between the generators/sellers and the buyers, who would typically be a utility company or large-scale trader.

The graph above shows an impressive start to the year:

  • 23 PPAs signed between January and February, for a total of 2.8 GW

but

  • Just 14 of them, for 644 MW of renewable energy across Europe between March and June


The good news is that in the second half of the year, the market in Europe recovered significantly enough to reach pre-Covid-19 levels at the end of December.

Of the roughly 10 GW of renewable energy capacity currently under signed PPAs in Europe, most is for solar power.
And guess which country stands out with a total of 3.4 GW…? 


What next?



As far as predictions for 2021 go, London-based market research company IHS Markit see a mostly positive year ahead, with a predicted 30% rise in the volume of solar project capacity added compared to 2020.


An interesting contributing factor to a possible fall in costs of solar projects this year – along with decreasing component prices – is increased effectiveness in converting captured sunlight into electricity, with some modules now nearing 25% efficiency (doesn’t sound much, but we can tell you that is an impressive figure!)


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So with continued growth in the sector, and with Spain still leading the way, we’re immensely proud to be a long-standing partner in the push for a brighter, sustainable future.

The recent hike in electricity prices from the grid, falling equipment costs PLUS the fact that we can now offer 0% financing on your installation mean it could be time to consider making the switch. You've nothing to lose by getting a FREE quote from our website today.



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