21/04/2023
Renewable energy and green hydrogen in Spain ⚡🇪🇸
🔷 Spain is a leader in Europe when it comes to wind energy and wants to generate 74% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
🔷 Spain had 1,265 wind farms and a wind power capacity of 28.1 GW in 2021, second only to Germany in Europe.
🔷 In 2022, wind power took up 22,14% of the grid and nuclear power held a share of 20,26% percent. Solar power follows with a share of 10,08%. In contrast, waste-to-energy sources accounted for roughly 1% of the grid.
🔷 Solar capacity is also increasing in Spain, in 2020, solar capacity in Spain sat at 13.2 GW. By 2030, that capacity is set to exceed 72 GW under current policy and investment plans. This is more than a 5-fold increase.
Due to the abundance of sun and wind, Spain positions itself as Europe’s future leader in green hydrogen production. At the moment, most hydrogen is produced using fossil fuels. 'Green hydrogen' is produced with renewable energy (eg. wind, solar, hydropower).
🔷 The hydrogen sector has taken on greater importance in Europe since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia is the world’s second-largest producer of natural gas, which powers most global hydrogen production. Due to this and as a sanction, the European Union is refocusing its energy needs.
🔷 EU Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson: “Renewable energy, including renewable hydrogen, is a central pillar of the REPowerEU Plan, which is the EU’s strategy to get rid of Russian fossil fuels as soon as possible.”
🔷 Spain, France Germany and Portugal have agreed to build a hydrogen pipeline by 2030 to transport some 2MM metric tonnes of hydrogen to France annually.
Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) are also a good solution to work towards sustainability goals and can also be closed with green hydrogen producers. If you're interested in offtaking renewable energy in Spain, you can contact us directly.
📍 This was part 2/2 about Spain, follow us on LinkedIn for more updates on European countries.