Spain's renewables share tumbles to 46% in June

Nunez de Balboa solar park at sunset. Image by Iberdrola (www.iberdrola.com)

The share of clean and renewable sources in Spain’s total electricity generation plunged to 46% in June from 54% in May, according to the latest estimates released by Spanish power grid operator Red Electrica de Espana (REE).

The reduced renewables share came as the wind energy portion fell well below 20%, making way for more natural gas in the power mix in June.

Renewables generated 9,851 GWh of electricity in June, up by 6.4% year-over-year. Combined-cycle gas and nuclear power plants were Spain’s top electricity producers, with a share of 22% and 18.8%, respectively. June being the month with the most daylight hours enabled the nation’s solar photovoltaic parks to become the most productive renewables technology for the first time, REE said.

The share of solar was 17.9% in June compared to wind power’s 14.6%.

In six months through June, Spain’s renewables share was 51.2%.

Figures for major power production technologies in Spain are presented in the table:

Technology:	Estimated production in GWh:	y/y change:	Share in June:	Share in January-June 2023:
Wind	3,139	-17.6%	14.6%	24.1%
Hydro	1,880	57.6%	8.8%	9.8%
Solar PV	3,838	19.1%	17.9%	13.8%
Solar CSP	577	7.9%	2.7%	1.8%
Other renewables	332	-20.1%	1.5%	1.4%
Nuclear	4,038	-9.5%	18.8%	20.3%
Cogeneration	1,775	20.9%	8.3%	7.2%
Combined-cycle gas	4,707	-27.4%	22%	15.8%
Coal	304	-63.5%	1.4%	1.4%

Spain’s gross demand for electricity fell by 6.4% year-on-year to an estimated 19,962 GWh. Adjusted for working hours and temperatures, the demand dropped by 5.7% on the year.

Gross demand for the first six months of the year declined by 4.4% year-on-year to 120,059 GWh. In adjusted terms, demand decreased by 3.9% compared to the January-June period of 2022.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!

More stories to explore