The photovoltaic considers the support of the administrations to be essential for the promotion of self-consumption

The Spanish Photovoltaic Union (UNEF) has considered the support of the administrations to be “essential” for the promotion of self-consumption in Spain, which involves regulating the figure of the manager, extending the processing and simplified compensation to all installations with access capacity of up to 450 kilowatts (kW), and promoting attractive tax reduction measures for those who want to invest, among other issues.
In addition, the sector has recognized that at this time it has three major challenges, such as social acceptance, electrification and storage.

The general director of UNEF, José Donoso, has advanced this Wednesday in the presentation of the annual report of the organization that Spain is on track to achieve the objectives of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), “as long as the sector and society remain aligned in their achievement, seeking solutions to the challenges that appear at this time.”

However, Donoso has pointed out that although there is, in general, a positive alignment between the central government and the communities to advance decarbonisation, UNEF is concerned about “actions such as retroactive taxes in Aragon, the unjustified moratorium in La Rioja, storage barriers in Asturias or restrictions on free enterprise in the Canary Islands”.

Under the title ‘Forging the transformation towards sustainability’, UNEF presented its annual report on Wednesday, prepared in collaboration with the University of Castilla-La Mancha, and which offers an in-depth analysis of the situation of the photovoltaic industry in Spain and in the world.

According to the report, the Spanish photovoltaic industry contributed 18,015 million euros to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) last year, representing 1.23% of the national total.

The solar energy sector in Spain during 2023 consolidated its position as a generator of jobs and development for the territories, creating a total of 160,396 new jobs between direct (34,037), indirect (86,968) and induced (41,391) jobs.

The report gives an account of “the leadership position and spirit of innovation” of the industry during the past year, in which photovoltaic energy was consolidated as the technology with the most installed power in Spain (including ground and self-consumption plants), with 32,488 megawatts (MW).

Also noteworthy is the increase in the weight of Spanish photovoltaic energy in the energy mix, which increased by 40% last year, with an average of 13.6%, while in the case of self-consumption, 2023 ended with 1,706 MW installed, representing 32% less growth than a year ago.