Renewables in 2020 surpassed all records in electricity production and generation capacity since records began (2007), as reflected in the data included in the ‘Renewable energy in the Spanish electricity system’ Report for 2020, published today by Red Eléctrica de España.

According to the information in this report, as at 31 December 2020, the installed power capacity of Spain’s renewable energy generation fleet stood at 59,860 megawatts (MW), 8.7% more than in the previous year. Thus, with an increase of 4,782 MW over the previous year’s capacity, renewables accounted for 54% of Spain’s entire power generation fleet.

The growth in installed power capacity, mainly wind and solar, together with the increase in hydro production last year, allowed 44% of the total energy generated in Spain in 2020 to come from green technologies, with renewable generation reaching 110,566 GWh, a figure that is 12.9% more than in the previous year, setting an all-time high in the share of renewables in the overall generation mix nationwide.

This strong growth of renewables in 2020 placed Spain in fourth position in terms of amount of renewable energy generated when compared to the rest of European countries. Furthermore, in terms of the share of renewables in the overall generation mix nationwide, Spain remains above the average of its neighbouring countries(1).

The increase in renewable generation is a trend that continues in 2021 as, since the start of the year, more than half of the national production to date has been obtained using renewable technologies. As at 23 June, 51.5% of total electricity generation nationwide came from renewable sources, 19.5% more than last year.  

Furthermore, in the first half of the year, renewables have continued to break records. In May, solar photovoltaic registered a peak monthly production of 2,377 GWh, and a share of 11.6% in the overall generation mix nationwide. There were also records for daily maximums, such as on 23 January, when wind covered 49.6% of the mix, or on 6 May, when photovoltaic, with 91 GWh, contributed a share of 13.2%.

(1) Due to the unavailability of data regarding total energy generation for some countries, the comparison includes the following coun-tries: Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland.