A recent analysis by the Spanish Wind Energy Association (AEE) on the behaviour of prices in the Spanish and German electricity markets reveals that although electricity prices in the German electricity market have been 7.5% higher on average in the last three months (Nov24-Jan25), during the night hours of highest consumption (especially residential), German consumers have had prices 7.23% cheaper than Spanish consumers.
In fact, in the last three months, prices in the German market during night hours have been cheaper than the average for the month, while in Spain the opposite is true. Only in January were Spanish night prices lower than German prices due to the passage of four high-impact storms (AEMET data).
What is the reason? The reason behind the lower electricity consumption in the winter night hours for German consumers is the greater commitment to wind energy development by the German government, which has managed to increase installed wind power capacity to 72.7 GW (of which 9.2 are from offshore wind), while in Spain we only have 32 GW installed (and none from offshore wind). The more wind electricity is generated, the more generation with fossil fuels is avoided and, therefore, prices are lower, and there are fewer CO2 emissions. On average, in the last three months wind power in Germany, which requires twice as much electricity as Spain, accounted for 36.7% of total generation, while in Spain it only reached 27.1%.
This is happening despite Spain having the highest onshore wind generation potential in Europe according to the latest report from the European Union’s JRC (ENSPRESO): 2,536 TWh of economically, environmentally and socially viable wind generation potential (we are only generating 2.5% of the potential) compared to Germany’s 491 TWh.
The insufficient pace of wind power project installation is costing Spanish consumers dearly, as they have higher electricity costs at the times of year when there is the most consumption (winter nights).
This could be avoided if investments in wind power had been those established by the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC). But of the 12 GW that should have been installed from 2020 to 2025, only 4 GW have been installed by 2024 (33% of the total) and it is possible that in 2025 this figure will reach 5 GW (40%). Meanwhile, Germany has added 10 GW of wind power (of which 1.2 GW is offshore wind). This has not helped the value chain of the Spanish wind industry either, which has seen its component production, workload and jobs reduced.
Solutions? The 32 GW of PV that we have installed are not useful for winter night hours (the original PNIEC’s PV target for 2025 was 27 GW, so this has been more than met), which are also very useful during the daytime hours of spring and summer.
Surpassing the PNIEC’s PV target for 2025 does not help consumers in winter and especially at night if wind power is not developed at the same time. Spain can only have cheaper electricity than its European neighbours if wind power is developed in line with the objectives. To do this, it is essential to prioritise the acceleration of investment in new wind power installations. It’s as clear as the fact that dawn and dusk come every day, and that there is more wind in winter than in summer.
We need more wind power and a more agile processing of new projects.
