Source from Enhol Group
At the end of the last century, Spain's energy mix was dominated by coal (35-40%), nuclear energy (30-35%), natural gas (5-10%) and oil (5%). Renewable energies, such as hydroelectric (15-20%) and non-conventional energy (solar and wind, less than 5%), had a minimal participation.
Law 82/1980 on Energy Conservation marked the beginning of the development of renewables in Spain, promoting the adoption of these sources and reducing dependence on hydrocarbons. In 1984, the first wind farm, PE del Empordá, was built in Garriguella, Girona, with 5 wind turbines of 24 KW each. In the following years, more wind farms were developed in areas with high wind resources, such as La Muela and Tarifa.
The first wind farm in Navarra is El Perdón. Its first phase is made up of 6 Gamesa brand turbines of 500 KW each and was commissioned in December 1994. This wind farm was considered the first of modern times and was a benchmark in the take-off of wind energy. in Spain and the discovery of wind energy for Grupo Enhol.
Law 54/1997 and the Renewable Energy Promotion Plan (PFER) of 1999 promoted the generation of renewable energy, establishing objectives for 2010. The Renewable Energy Plan (PER) 2005-2010 reviewed these objectives, increasing the goals for wind and solar energy. Shortly after, the decade from 2000-2009 saw a definitive boost with the Kyoto Protocol and Royal Decree 436/2004, which changed the way the generated energy was sold, going from a fixed price to a market price plus a premium. Royal Decree 661/2007 maintained this scheme, but with regulated or market remuneration options.
In 2009, 30.6% of electricity demand was covered by renewables, compared to 19.3% in 2000. During this decade, 274 MW were built in Spain, at which time we built our first wind project abroad, the PE Beausemblat in France consisting of 6 2MW Vestas wind turbines. At that time, solar energy also began to be developed, although with high costs and premium.
The decade from 2010-2019 brought maturity and challenges for the sector. The PER 2011-2020 established that renewables would represent 20.8% of energy consumption in 2020. To avoid compromising the system, a renewable power pre-allocation system was implemented until 2014.
The economic crisis and the growing tariff deficit led the Government to enact Royal Decree-Law 1/2012, suspending economic incentives for new renewable energy, cogeneration and waste projects, and indefinitely halting registration procedures in the Pre-assignment Registry. of remuneration. In 2013, Royal Decree-Law 9/2013 established a new legal and economic regime for these facilities, abandoning the incentive model based on electrical production, which resulted in a 40% reduction in the billing of existing parks and paralyzed the installation of new renewable projects in Spain.
Given this situation, at Grupo Enhol we opt for international expansion by developing projects in countries such as Bulgaria, Poland, India, Chile, Mexico and Peru. The fall in the prices of solar plant components allowed the projects to be profitable without aid, promoting the development of photovoltaic solar energy in Tudela.
The last decade 2020-2024 is mainly characterized by the Energy Transition and Decarbonization. The National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) 2021-2030 establishes objectives such as a 40% reduction in GHG emissions compared to 1990, 32% renewables in total gross final energy consumption, an improvement of 32.5 % in energy efficiency and 15% in electrical interconnection between Member States, with the goal of turning Spain into a carbon-neutral country by 2050 enhanced by the EU's Fit for 55.
Overcoming the crisis and reducing supply costs have reactivated the installation of renewable projects, especially solar, although this has generated a very important imbalance between supply and demand. The challenges include increasing electricity demand and modifying the battery generation curve. This imbalance presents us with the challenge of increasing electricity demand and modifying the generation curve.
The reactivation of the sector has led us as an organization to the construction of 190 MW in wind farms and 90 MW in photovoltaic solar energy in Spain, with international growth in countries such as Uzbekistan, Peru and Guatemala. In our case, we can highlight projects such as the 395 MW Illa PSF and different hydroelectric developments in Guatemala.
In 25 years the renewable energy sector has gone from prehistory to maturity. Spain, without a doubt, has been one of the driving forces of this development and at Grupo Enhol we have been lucky enough to experience it firsthand and to grow as a company alongside the renewable energy sector.
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