Spain extends renewable permit deadline amid alert measures

Barcelona — Spain's government has allowed an extension on renewable grid connection permit procedures that will prevent older applications expiring and losing their deposits.

The government announced in its state gazette Wednesday that the extension would be for two months after the current state of alert, declared March 14 and extended until April 11, is concluded.

Renewable promotors who submitted plans in 2013 or earlier were required to obtain the authorization for new plants by March 31 or see their permits of access and connection expire, but administrative procedures have been affected by the government's measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Spain currently has 34 GW of wind and PV installed, and 112 GW of projects that hold a grid access permit. A further 28 GW are in process and a total of 93 GW of projects have been rejected to date, according to grid operator Red Electrica de Espana (REE).

The country posted a record month in terms of solar production in March, with 1.0 TWh of solar PV output and 250 GWh of CSP.

Peak output hit 6.1 GW on March 29, covering around one quarter of national production at that time.

The government also submitted its finalized National Climate and Energy Plan to the EC with 2030 targets. This includes 50.3 GW of wind, up from 28.0 GW in 2020, 39.2 GW of solar PV, up from 9.1 GW in 2020, 7.3 GW of CSP, up from 2.3 GW in 2020, and 9.5 GW of hydro pumping, up from 6.0 GW in 2020.

However, the increase of renewable output, coupled with reduced demand due to the state of alert, has meant a drop in forward curve prices that could threaten the booming PPA market for PV in Spain, with initial estimates from sector sources that new capacity additions in 2020 could be halved.

Spain's forward price on the OMIP exchange show Q3 2020 at Eur33.20/MWh and Cal 2021 at Eur39.52/MWh, while the current PPA index in Spain was reported lower than either, at Eur32.46/MWh Thursday, according to Swiss group Pexapark.