Spain Energy Dashboard

Grid Summary

Spain is currently far from its RES-E target. In 1997, a strong support programme in favour of RES was introduced. In 2004, hydro power still provided 50% of all green electricity, while onshore wind and biomass had started penetrating the market. PV energy is also promising, with an average growth rate of 54% per year. Proposed changes to the feed-in tariffs and the adoption of a new Technical Buildings Code (2006) show increased support for biomass, biogas, solar thermal electricity, and solar thermal heat. The renewables targets are calculated as the share of renewable consumption to gross final energy consumption. Renewables consumption comprises the direct use of renewables (e.g. biofuels) plus the part of electricity and heat that is produced from renewables (e.g. wind, hydro), while final energy consumption is the energy that households, industry, services, agriculture and the transport sector use. The denominator for the RES share includes also distribution losses for electricity and heat and the consumption of these fuels in the process of producing electricity and heat…more information.

Spain strongly depends on energy imports, while domestic production is mainly related to nuclear energy. Energy demand has increased significantly since 1990. Transport and industry are the most significant energy-consuming sectors. In the electricity sector, coal is still the main fuel, but the contribution of gas, nuclear and renewable sources is remarkably high. Gas has exhibited the most significant increase in the share in electricity generation. Spain has a significant share of electricity generated by renewable sources and has become the second largest country in the world in terms of installed wind capacity. The increase of both gas and renewable sources in the electricity mix are important in terms of climate change. Oil and natural gas dominate Spain’s primary energy supply, with an aggregate 67% of total. The consumption of both sources, but mainly of gas, has increased dramatically in recent years (total increase for both of 125% since 1990). The consumption of renewable sources has also increased significantly and in 2004 was at the EU-27 average (6%). Solid fuel consumption has increased only slightly since 1990, while remaining below the EU-27 average (18%)...more information.