The Spanish wind power sector believes in the collaboration of all players to install in the next two years the more than 4,600 MW awarded in tenders between 2016 and 2017

Wind power has been awarded 1,128 MW of the total of 5,037 MW in the Spanish tender held yesterday. This gives continuity to the industry’s activity in order to achieve compliance with European targets. The sector is confident that all players involved – developers, manufacturers, financial institutions, local and state public entities, etc. – will work hand in hand so that all projects awarded in the last three tenders are fully functioning by the end of December 2019. It will be then when the effectiveness of the tenders will be proved. The Spanish Wind Energy Association (AEE) estimates that the installation of these projects will translate into investments in excess of 4.5 billion Euros and the creation of between 25,000 to 30,000 jobs during construction.

The results of these auctions show that wind power is currently the technology that can bring more energy at a lower cost to meet 2020 targets. Even so, the industry believes, more than ever, that Energy Planning for the coming years is needed and it must take into account Spain´s energy and decarbonization needs in the long term and guarantee a balanced mix among technologies. This implies including a calendar of tenders to give visibility to the renewable sector beyond 2020, taking into account international commitments on environmental matters (the Paris Agreement and the 2030 EU Target) as the necessary milestones for an orderly Energy Transition.

AEE insists that the 23,000 MW of wind power that have been installed in Spain since the 1990s did so at a time of lower technological maturity with different financial conditions and, therefore, at a higher cost, so incentives must be respected until the end of their Regulatory life. This necessarily means not changing the reasonable profitability of the projects every six years during their regulatory life, a power granted to the Government by the Energy Reform that could be exercised for the first time in 2020.

The Spanish Wind Energy Association (AEE) is the voice of the wind power industry in Spain. With nearly 200 members, it represents more than 90% of the sector in Spain, promotes the use of wind energy, and defends the interests of the industry.