Spain's Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco) has announced that an auction for the allocation of 3 GW of renewable energy capacity will be held on January 26.

Interested developers will have to submit their bids starting from December 15.

Of the 3 GW that the Spanish government wants to assign, 1 GW will be for large-scale PV plants, 1 GW for onshore wind projects and another gigawatt for renewable energy projects linked to storage and without technological restrictions.  Selected PV projects will be awarded a 12-year PPA

The Miteco has also introduced the obligation for the participants in the auction to present a strategic plan with estimates of the impact on local employment and opportunities for the local, regional and national industrial value chain. Also being considered is the affects on the circular economy, including measures dealing with the treatment of equipment at the end of its useful life and analyses of the carbon footprint during the useful life cycle of facilities. 

Spain reached 8.7 GW of cumulative solar capacity last year, according to the latest statistics from grid operator Red Eléctrica de España (REE). REE said the nation added 3.975 GW of new solar last year, which is much more than the 261.7 MW connected in the preceding year, or the 135 MW installed in 2017.

Most of last year’s new solar capacity came from projects selected in national auctions in which solar was the only winner, with around 3.9 GW of capacity awarded. Unlike a 3 GW renewables auction held in May 2017, which featured PV-unfriendly rules to ensure that wind would prevail in a tie between rival tech bids, the last auction opened up the field to solar plants.

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