A new push to open a 3GW PV solar auction in Spain is under pressure due to the country’s prolonged political morass, which has left Madrid without a majority government for months.
According to media reports, the country’s Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy announced the plan, which was then approved by Spain’s general secretary of energy.
However, the effort has been cast into doubt by the lack of a cohesive government following earlier elections, leaving the country without a government following two inconclusive elections. According to the BBC, the King of Spain recently charged acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy with forming a government, but there is little interest from competing parties.
This instability led Spanish solar association (UNEF) general director José Donoso to tell PV Tech that the plan should be considered as “provisional” because “we really don’t have a government at this moment.”
According to Donoso, solar advocates cannot rely on who might become the country’s next minister of energy, casting doubt on whether the auction will proceed under a newly formed government.
“We consider this does not give us guarantee that at the end of the day all the projects that are included in the auction will be constructed, [which] is important for Spain if we want to achieve the target of the 20% renewables by 2020,” he told PV Tech.
This latest development is only the most recent setback for renewable energy development in Spain. Once heralded as the next economic powerhouse for the southern European country, solar and wind suffered significant setbacks when the country’s economic crisis moved successive governments to cut or halt government assistance programs.
The result, including spurring legal action from investors frustrated at the willingness of Madrid to introduce retroactive cuts to incentive programs, was a stalled sector. In the years since the country’s green energy sector has struggled to reclaim ground and make use of Spain’s significant solar and wind resources.
Source: Forbes
By: Christopher Coats
