Spain has installed 5.6GW of ground-mounted capacity in 2023, up 28% from 2022, according to the country’s transmission system operator, Red Eléctrica

By the end of 2023, Spain had over 25.5GW of installed solar PV capacity, representing 20.3% of the country’s total electricity generation.

Nearly half of the solar PV capacity added last year came from the central region of Castilla-La Mancha, which added 2.2GW in 2023. Solar PV now represents 42.4% of all electricity generation in that region, up from the 33.3% registered in 2022.

The southern region of Andalusia added the second-most capacity, with over 1.1GW, while Extremadura closed the podium of solar PV capacity added in 2023 with over 1GW. However, the western region remains Spain’s leader in total installed solar capacity, with 6.4GW.

On top of the 5.6GW of ground-mounted capacity added in 2023, Spain installed 1.7GW of self-consumption solar capacity last year, according to data from Spanish trade association UNEF, bringing the total capacity of solar PV added in Spain in 2023 to over 7.3GW. At the end of 2023, self-consumption nearly reached 7GW of total capacity installed after a record year in 2022, with 2.5GW deployed.

The combined capacity installed of ground-mounted and self-consumption in 2023 represents nearly a tenth of Spain’s target for 2030. Last year the country updated its National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) and targets to reach 76GW of solar PV by the end of the decade.

Among the block of 27 European countries, Spain’s ambition with solar PV is only outpaced by Germany (215GW) and Italy (80GW), although last December, the European Commission called on the governments to “enhance their efforts” to accelerate the energy transition, after assessing the revised NECPs of several countries.

Graph showing updated NECP targets for selected European countries. Credit: PV Tech

Source：PV Tech