This generation volume is 4.1% higher than the previous record of 2015 (4,102 GWh) and represents 2.67% of the total electricity generated in Spain in the first eight months of the year. In August, the solar thermal input reached about 9% of the generation in a timely manner, with a 2% contribution in the night hours.
Concentrating
solar power has set a historical record for electricity generation by
adding 4,269 GWh in the first eight months of 2019, which represents a
generation volume 4.1% higher than the previous record of 2015 (4,102
GWh), according to REE data (Source: ESIOS) collected by Protermosolar,
the Spanish Association for the Promotion of the Thermosolar Industry,
which indicates that this generation represents 2.67% of the total
generated in Spain in this period and represents the contribution to the
historically higher system.
Protermosolar also notes that during
the month of August, concentrated solar power contributed to the system
745 GWh (Source: ESIOS), a figure above the historical average, with
hourly contribution points that accounted for 8.72% of the total
generated and with numerous time slots above 7%.
Protermosolar
highlights that, at night, between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., the energy
from the solar thermal plants has had points exceeding 2% of the total
hourly contribution to the Spanish electricity system in August, which
clearly demonstrates how This technology can meet the demand at night
and its hourly and seasonal complementarity with other technologies,
especially photovoltaics.
Protermosolar points out that these
figures are achieved with the same installed capacity as in 2013,
demonstrating the reliability of the technology and maintaining
efficiency despite the fact that several plants have already exceeded 10
years of operation. The Spanish solar thermal park is made up of 1/3
part by centrals with storage, that load and unload their tanks more
than 250 days a year, maintaining their capacity of operation without
degradation and allowing to generate electricity after sunset.
On
the other hand and in view of the significant reduction experienced by
the price of the pool in August that coincides with the rise in solar
production, it is worth recalling the contribution of renewables to the
containment of the prices of the generation market and in particular of
solar technologies (photovoltaic and solar thermal) during the summer
months.
For Protermosolar, these data show the confidence that must
be had in this technology and the right thing to propose a greater
deployment, such as the one foreseen in the PNIEC, in this next decade
to reach the objectives to 2030. In this sense, to implement systems of
storage in those plants that currently do not have it or hybridize some
plants with biomass, would reinforce its value for the system. Likewise,
supplying own consumption with attached photovoltaic installations
would increase the solar thermal generation of current plants. Regarding
the future fleet, its complementary photovoltaic office would
contribute to the integration of renewable energy into the system,
optimizing existing and future transmission infrastructures, and
contributing to the stability of the network.
The new solar thermal
power plants, equipped with large storage systems and dispatching
electricity from sunset, would alleviate the ramps that would cause the
photovoltaic production to fall daily in the afternoon and would largely
prevent emissions that would otherwise , would be associated with the
combustion of gas in the combined cycles. But in addition, the storage
tanks of the solar thermal power plants could be used to capture the
spills of wind and photovoltaic technologies, avoiding investments of
more than 20,000 million euros in battery systems or new pumping
facilities. The solar thermal power plants could even act as a strategic
reserve available to the system operator for times of maximum demand,
being able to maintain an important part of its capacity for days, weeks
or months, when required with absolute availability.
Protermosolar
is the association that represents the Spanish sector of the
thermoelectric solar industry and is made up of 48 members. The solar
thermal technology, in which Spain is an international leader, has
recently broken into the global renewable energy landscape and currently
has great growth potential due to its manageability and storage
capacity, due to its high job creation local and for its potential for
cost reduction. The installed capacity in Spain is 2,300 MW and the
contribution of Spanish companies in international markets is around
75%.