Spain hits renewable record: 50.8% of electricity in 2023
Red Eléctrica confirms that 50.8% of the electricity generated in Spain in 2023 came from renewables, a historic record with wind leading the mix and…
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Spain ends 2023 with more than half of its electricity from renewable sources
Red Eléctrica's (Spain's grid operator) provisional figures show a number that until recently sounded like a utopia: 50.8% of the electricity generated in Spain in 2023 came from wind, hydro, solar and the rest. That is more than 135,000 GWh, an all-time high that beats 2022's 42.2% by 8.6 points and leaves 2021's 46.7% behind. Wind leads the mix with almost 24% and some 63,700 GWh; solar PV climbs to fourth place with 14% and more than 37,000 GWh, up 34% on the previous year. Nuclear holds second with 20% and combined cycle drops to third with 17%. Hydro, fifth with 9.5%, breathes again thanks to the rains after the dry year of 2022.
What Red Eléctrica's 2023 data shows
The official narrative comes from Beatriz Corredor, chairwoman of Redeia: "these figures are irrefutable proof that the ecological transition is moving forward steadily." She adds that Spain is the second-largest generator of wind and solar energy in Europe. The report chains together records: January was the most renewable month in history with 13,542 GWh; November set the highest monthly renewable share at 59.6%; and 3 November saw the daily record of 73.5%. There were also milestones for emission-free generation (87.9% on 11 November) and daily wind output (53.8% on 26 October).
The side effect is the drop in emissions: less than 32 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, down 28% from 2022, with 72% of generation emission-free. Demand, however, fell: down 2.1% after adjusting for working days and temperatures, to around 244,000 gross GWh. The peninsular system drops 2.8%, the Balearics 0.9% and the Canaries rise 2.8%. Peak demand came on 24 January at 20:43 with 39,101 MW.
The argument that doesn't hold up: no industry, no transition
The sceptics' first reaction is always the same: windmills and solar panels can't power heavy industry. "For a country with no industry, windmills and solar panels might be enough. But a country with industry... It's impossible," sums up a view that runs through much of the thread. The problem with that argument is that Spain is not Germany, and the German country, with all its industrial fabric, has not died from betting on renewables. The comparison falls apart on its own: if 50.8% renewables were incompatible with industry, half of Europe would be bankrupt.
Another line of criticism targets cost. "If that news were true, households would be paying 0.05 per kWh," one participant claims. The answer is that the final price is not set by the generation technology, but by the design of the marginalist market and the burden of grid tolls and charges. The old solar PV subsidies, with guaranteed prices that reached €480/MWh in a market of €40-50/MWh, explain why bills didn't fall back then. Today solar PV is competitive without subsidies, but the price of electricity still hangs on the gas that sets the marginal price.
Hydro and water: the figure that throws people off
One of the most repeated claims in the thread is that renewables drain the reservoirs. The report itself refutes this: hydro contributed 9.5% of the mix with 25,500 GWh, above 2022 but below 2020 and 2021. In other words, the drought cut hydroelectric output to historic lows the previous year, and this year it has only partially recovered thanks to increased rainfall. The cause-and-effect relationship runs opposite to the cliché: less rain, less hydro, not the other way around.
Storage, the real bottleneck
Where the debate does have a point is storage. To reach higher renewable peine shares, backup capacity is needed. In Spain, today, the only significant storage is pumped hydro. Sodium-ion battery projects at €50/kWh with 2,000 to 4,000 life cycles are starting to sound like the missing piece. Until they arrive, gas remains the natural backup, and the Spanish system is oversized in combined cycle, which allows it to cover the gaps without firing up every plant.
The other front is the ageing of the fleet. Some warn that over the next five years a large part of the solar PV installed during the subsidy era will need replacing, more than a million panels. And the export balance, close to 15,000 GWh for the second consecutive year, clashes with limited interconnection capacity with France and Portugal.
Why doesn't the electricity bill fall if half is renewable?
Because the wholesale price is set by the most expensive technology needed to meet demand, which in Spain is still gas-fired combined cycle. Renewables come in at near-zero marginal cost and displace the expensive sources, but as long as gas sets the price in peak hours, the market doesn't pass on the full drop. On top of that come grid tolls, charges and VAT. The paradox is that the more renewable the mix, the cheaper it is to generate and the less you notice it on your bill.
The final picture is uncomfortable for both sides: the 50.8% renewable share is an irrefutable fact, and the bill still doesn't reflect it. Between the triumphalist headline and the "it's a lie" there is a territory nobody occupies: explaining why a system that generates half its electricity emission-free still has a final price that depends on imported gas. That's where the analysis gets stuck.
Red Eléctrica's (Spain's grid operator) provisional figures show a number that until recently sounded like a utopia: 50.8% of the electricity generated in Spain in 2023 came from wind, hydro, solar and the rest. That is more than 135,000 GWh, an all-time high that beats 2022's 42.2% by 8.6 points and leaves 2021's 46.7% behind. Wind leads the mix with almost 24% and some 63,700 GWh; solar PV climbs to fourth place with 14% and more than 37,000 GWh, up 34% on the previous year. Nuclear holds second with 20% and combined cycle drops to third with 17%. Hydro, fifth with 9.5%, breathes again thanks to the rains after the dry year of 2022.
What Red Eléctrica's 2023 data shows
The official narrative comes from Beatriz Corredor, chairwoman of Redeia: "these figures are irrefutable proof that the ecological transition is moving forward steadily." She adds that Spain is the second-largest generator of wind and solar energy in Europe. The report chains together records: January was the most renewable month in history with 13,542 GWh; November set the highest monthly renewable share at 59.6%; and 3 November saw the daily record of 73.5%. There were also milestones for emission-free generation (87.9% on 11 November) and daily wind output (53.8% on 26 October).
The side effect is the drop in emissions: less than 32 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, down 28% from 2022, with 72% of generation emission-free. Demand, however, fell: down 2.1% after adjusting for working days and temperatures, to around 244,000 gross GWh. The peninsular system drops 2.8%, the Balearics 0.9% and the Canaries rise 2.8%. Peak demand came on 24 January at 20:43 with 39,101 MW.
The argument that doesn't hold up: no industry, no transition
The sceptics' first reaction is always the same: windmills and solar panels can't power heavy industry. "For a country with no industry, windmills and solar panels might be enough. But a country with industry... It's impossible," sums up a view that runs through much of the thread. The problem with that argument is that Spain is not Germany, and the German country, with all its industrial fabric, has not died from betting on renewables. The comparison falls apart on its own: if 50.8% renewables were incompatible with industry, half of Europe would be bankrupt.
Another line of criticism targets cost. "If that news were true, households would be paying 0.05 per kWh," one participant claims. The answer is that the final price is not set by the generation technology, but by the design of the marginalist market and the burden of grid tolls and charges. The old solar PV subsidies, with guaranteed prices that reached €480/MWh in a market of €40-50/MWh, explain why bills didn't fall back then. Today solar PV is competitive without subsidies, but the price of electricity still hangs on the gas that sets the marginal price.
Hydro and water: the figure that throws people off
One of the most repeated claims in the thread is that renewables drain the reservoirs. The report itself refutes this: hydro contributed 9.5% of the mix with 25,500 GWh, above 2022 but below 2020 and 2021. In other words, the drought cut hydroelectric output to historic lows the previous year, and this year it has only partially recovered thanks to increased rainfall. The cause-and-effect relationship runs opposite to the cliché: less rain, less hydro, not the other way around.
Storage, the real bottleneck
Where the debate does have a point is storage. To reach higher renewable peine shares, backup capacity is needed. In Spain, today, the only significant storage is pumped hydro. Sodium-ion battery projects at €50/kWh with 2,000 to 4,000 life cycles are starting to sound like the missing piece. Until they arrive, gas remains the natural backup, and the Spanish system is oversized in combined cycle, which allows it to cover the gaps without firing up every plant.
The other front is the ageing of the fleet. Some warn that over the next five years a large part of the solar PV installed during the subsidy era will need replacing, more than a million panels. And the export balance, close to 15,000 GWh for the second consecutive year, clashes with limited interconnection capacity with France and Portugal.
Why doesn't the electricity bill fall if half is renewable?
Because the wholesale price is set by the most expensive technology needed to meet demand, which in Spain is still gas-fired combined cycle. Renewables come in at near-zero marginal cost and displace the expensive sources, but as long as gas sets the price in peak hours, the market doesn't pass on the full drop. On top of that come grid tolls, charges and VAT. The paradox is that the more renewable the mix, the cheaper it is to generate and the less you notice it on your bill.
The final picture is uncomfortable for both sides: the 50.8% renewable share is an irrefutable fact, and the bill still doesn't reflect it. Between the triumphalist headline and the "it's a lie" there is a territory nobody occupies: explaining why a system that generates half its electricity emission-free still has a final price that depends on imported gas. That's where the analysis gets stuck.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (99 replies).
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