The combined accumulated power of wind and photovoltaic energy grows by 12.7% in 2023 in Spain

Wind power, solar photovoltaic and concentrated solar power (CSP) sources reached a combined accumulated power of 59,106 megawatts (MW) in 2023, which represents an increase of 12.7% compared to the previous year, according to the DBK Sector Observatory of Informa, a subsidiary of Cesce.
The study reflects that in 2023 the upward trend in installed renewable capacity in Spain continued, driven mainly by solar photovoltaic energy, which has increased its installed power fivefold in five years.

Wind energy, still the renewable source with the greatest specific weight, registered a growth of 2.4%, up to 30,883 MW, while solar thermal energy did not add new power.

For its part, solar photovoltaic energy narrowed its gap with the former, reaching almost 6,000 MW of new installed capacity in 2023, reaching 25,919 (+30%), which means multiplying it by five since 2018.

In this context, Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia were presented as the communities with the greatest accumulated installed wind and solar capacity, with around 11,400 and 10,150 MW, respectively. They are followed by Castilla y León, with around 8,700, and Aragón, with around 7,700.

Thus, these four communities concentrate, therefore, almost two thirds of the national total.

In addition, the sale of wind energy increased again, although only by 1.2%, to 61,342 gigawatt-hours (GWh), which allowed it to remain the main source, ahead of solar photovoltaic. With an increase of 24.7%, the latter reached 35,673 GWh, while solar thermal energy generated 4,698 GWh (+13.9%).

The total figure, already exceeding 100,000 GWh, accounted for 41.1% of the volume of electricity production.

In a context of volatility and normalisation of energy prices after the strong increases observed in the previous two years, the value of the wind and solar energy market stood at 10,955 million euros in 2023, which represented a contraction of 38.9%.