Currently, Spain has 2055 MW of CSP in operation and another 300 MW under construction scheduled to come online before the end of 2013. Although most of these plants employ parabolic trough technology (2272.5 MW distributed in 46 plants), there are 3 plants (51 MW) employing power tower technology and 2 plants (31.4 MW) employing linear Fresnel technology.

 

Key data on Spain

 

Area	505 990 km2
Population (2012)	47 190 493
GDP (2011)	1 490 810 US$ mill.
Installed power capacity (2012)	102 524 MW
Electricity consumption (2012)	252 191 GWh
Generation from RE sources (2012)	32%
Generation from CSP (2012)	1.36%
Primary energy production (2009)	29.7 MTOE
Primary energy net import (2009)	110.7 MTOE
Total primary energy supply (2009)	126.5 MTOE
Total final consumption (2009)	92.3 MTOE

 

In September 2002, Spain was the first European country to introduce a “feed-in tariff” funding system for solar thermal power. This funding system granted a premium on top of the electricity pool price of 12 € cents for each kWh output of a solar thermal plant between 100 kW and 50 MW of capacity, which could be changed every four years. It turned out that this was not bankable and that the amount did not cover the cost and risks to make the first projects feasible.

The Royal Decree 436/2004 introduced two alternative remuneration options for new CSP installed capacity. Solar thermal electricity generators who sell their production to a distributor receive as fixed tariff 300% of the reference price (7.2 € cents/kWh) during the first 25 years and 240% afterwards. Solar thermal electricity generators who sell their electricity on the free market receive the negotiated market price of electricity, a premium of 250% of the reference price during the first 25 years, 200% afterwards, and an incentive of 10%. This made solar thermal power projects, for the first time since the vintage Standard Offers of California in the late eighties, bankable and attractive for investors.

In May 2007, these “feed-in tariff” regulations are refined with the Royal Decree 661 which improved both alternative remuneration options for CSP plants. Under the first option, solar thermal electricity generators receive a fixed tariff of 27 € cents/kWh during the first 25 years and 21.5 € cents/kWh thereafter. Under the second option, solar thermal electricity generators receive a premium of 25.4 € cents/kWh during the first 25 years and 20.3 € cents/kWh thereafter as a complement to the electricity market price. The tariff is increased yearly with the CPI minus one percent point. In order to grant dispatchability and firm capacity 12-15% natural gas backup is allowed.

The first commercial plant commissioned in Europe was the PS10 solar power tower developed by Abengoa Solar, which was also the first commercial plant in the world to use tower technology.  PS10 is located in Sanlúcar la Mayor (Seville) and went online in mid-2007. By the end of 2009, 8 CSP plants had been commissioned with a total installed capacity of 283 MW.

In December 2009, the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade published the retribution pre-assignment register for CSP facilities that met all the requirements established in Royal Decree 6/2009, 51 CSP projects totaling 2355 MW were included.  According to the legislation, the registered plants could join the subsidy system in four phases from 2010 to the end of 2013.

In January 2012, the feed-in tariff (FiT) program implemented in 2007 was cancelled by the Government for new applicants, so that it would not be awarded to CSP plants beyond the 2355 MW approved in 2009 to enter into operation before 2014.                       

In 2012 and 2013 the Government has approved a series of measures that, according to the Spanish Association of CSP (Protermosolar), reduce the incomes of CSP plants by 37%. These measures are listed below:

• 7% tax to income to power producer
• Additional tax to the natural gas the plants use to heat the HTF
• Cut in the FiT proportional to the natural gas the plant consume (12-15%)
• Removal of the option premium plus electricity market price
• The tariff will not be revised with the CPI

Current status of CSP in Spain: By the end of 2013, Spain will have an installed capacity of 2355 MW distributed in 51 plants. The commercial deployment of new CSP plants will not be reactivated in the short term due to the moratorium decreed by the government in 2012.

Further information about Spanish legislation: http://www.solarpaces.org/Library/Legislation/legislation.htm

Information about the CSP plants developed in Spain