PV Markets Spain & Portugal

PV markets Spain & Portugal: Better than feared The PV farm Lo Illan, connected to the grid in the second Spain’s PV sector faces enormous challenges. The modification of the feed- quarter of 2011, is a project in tariff scheme and the economic crisis are seen as the main reasons. In of Gehrlicher Solar. Located in the Murcia province, the Portugal, the government has newly discovered PV and is now eager to get ground-mounted system has a total rated power of 2,065 kW. its piece of the cake. PV modules are made by First Solar, inverters by SMA. he conference “Conferencia de la Industria Spanish solar industry is able to compete on the glo- Photos (2): Gehrlicher Solar Solar-España 2011”, which took place in mid- bal stage, said Antonio Navarro of the European TOctober, reflected the situation of the Spanish Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA). solar sector – and it was said that it seems to be sur- According to the conference participants, the new prisingly good. In the opinion of Javier Anta of the target markets for the Spanish manufacturers will be Spanish Photovoltaic Industry Association (Asociación mainly the United States, India, Australia, Latin de la Industria Fotovoltaica, ASIF), “the Spanish PV America and Morocco. They all agreed that the PV sector has shown that it is strong and steadfast even sector is in need of stability and a regulatory frame- under difficult external conditions including the un work that will provide industry participants and in- stable regulatory framework and the economic cri- vestors with the necessary planning security. Espe- sis”. Carlos Montoya of the Institute for Energy cially, abrupt changes in the regulation, which caused Diversification and Saving (Instituto para la Diversifi- the solar sector to crash in Spain, threaten the mar- cación y Ahorro de la Energía, IDAE) in Madrid pointed ket development and lead to major uncertainties, out that “the renewable energy sector is expected to said the representatives. Following an attractive tar- give jobs to about 300,000 people in Spain by 2020”. iff regime that had been put into place for solar pow- It has become clear from the recent past that the er in May 2007, the Spanish market had attracted multi-billion investments. “The strategy of Gehrlicher In September 2008, the Spanish government fi- Solar España is to continue to nally had to pull the emergency break and review the expand throughout the region feed-in tariffs, which brought the Spanish market to a of Murcia. This is why we are sudden standstill. The blow hit the market partici- working on the development pants hard and many solar projects planned at the of plants with lower capacities time failed as a consequence. Under the new regime, for the next two years as well the subsidies will now be limited to a certain amount as on the planning of major of operational hours per calendar year until the end of projects with a total capacity of December 2013. Solar plants with fixed supports are 200 to 400 MWp”, says Klaus limited to 1,250 hours per year. When using single Gehrlicher, founder and CEO of and dual axis trackers, the subsidies will be offered the company. for 1,644 and 1,707 hours, respectively. By 2014, the

120 Sun & Wind Energy 12/2011 limit for all solar power plants planned, constructed or operated at the time will decrease by about 1.5 to 2.5 %, varying with the location. To compensate for the new hourly limitation, the Spanish government has extended the tariff period from 25 to 28 years. Coming out of a deep recession

Gadir Solar is an example of how steadfast the Spanish PV sector has recently been. After the module production was stopped by the company over a period of four months during the summer and wages had been outstanding, the factory in Puerto Real, Cádiz, will now be started up again in November, re- ported the Spanish news portal “La Voz Digital”. The debt has been restructured after a difficult economic situation and supply problems, says the company. There are more signs that Spain’s PV market is recovering. The investment group OPDE recently awarded an EPC contract for the construction of a solar park in the province of Navarra to the Spain-based company Sanjose Constructora. The project has an expected capacity of 12 MW. It will be the largest executed in Spain in 2011 and begin to produce energy by the end of next year. Another project scheduled for completion by the end of 2011 is a 9.9 MW solar plant near Zamora. The investor behind the project is First Solar, which will also supply the 122,000 thin-film PV modules needed for the installation. First Solar recently sold the solar park to the investment company KGAL. The total capacity of solar power plants owned and operated by KGAL’s investment funds now exceeds 200 MW, says Dr. Klaus Wolf, Managing Director of KGAL. The system was developed and constructed by Gehrlicher Solar España. “Based on our long-term experience

Sun & Wind Energy 12/2011 Photovoltaics Iberia

Inauguration of Gemasolar So- and the high potential of the Spanish PV market, we lar Power Plant in Spain (from look forward to installing many more PV systems in left to right): His Highness Ge- this region”, says Guillermo Barea Herranz, CEO of neral Sheikh Mohammed bin Gehrlicher Solar España. Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Trend towards rooftop systems Commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, and His Spain’s solar market has not lost all of its strength. Majesty the King of Spain Juan The activities continue both on the mainland and on Carlos I. Photos (2): Torresol the islands. One example is Gran Canaria where Conergy recently installed the largest rooftop system on the Canary Islands. The solar power plant is located on the roof of the coffee roaster Emicela in Agüimes and has a capacity of 1.75 MW. The investor behind the 14,000 m2 rooftop system is Bankia. “Solar tech- nology plays a vital role in creating a sustainable and securing an autonomous energy supply on the Canary Islands”, says Rodrigo Rato, Executive Chairman of Bankia. Because of the positive experiences made during the planning stage and the installation of the system, the investor decided to commission Conergy for a follow-up project. The Germany-based company is now installing a second system on another rooftop of the coffee roaster in Tenerife with a total of capacity of 270 kW. “There is a clear shift of trends in Spain from ground-mounted installations towards rooftops – Attractive future market whether on industrial buildings such as on the Canaries, or on private homes”, says Luis Jimenez Spain has remained an attractive market for the inter- Gutierrez, Head of Conergy Spain. “The potential national solar sector, although many projects contin- here is immense, despite the cap on the market. ue to be in the planning stage. One of the companies Gemasolar Park: the CPV Doing good business is still possible and with the that want to strengthen their activities in Spain is plant has an annual output of largest rooftop-system on the Canaries, we have yet Gehrlicher Solar. “The strategy of Gehrlicher Solar 19.9 MW and uses a total of again proved this to be true.” According to Jimenez España is to continue expanding throughout the re- 2,650 heliostats for the pro- Gutierrez, Conergy has already installed more than gion of Murcia. This is why we are working on the de- duction of electricity combined 12 MW of clean solar energy on the Canary velopment of plants with lower capacities for the next with heat storage technologies. Islands. two years as well as on the planning of major projects

122 Sun & Wind Energy 12/2011 Isofotón together with Hankook Silicon plan to build a 10,000 t polysilicon factory in Cádiz. Photo: Isofotón

that will have a total capacity of 200 to 400 MWp”, Murcia. The grid connection of the other two projects, says Klaus Gehrlicher, founder and CEO of Gehrlicher which are also located in Lorca, is scheduled for the Solar. To this end, the company plans to strengthen end of the year. These five ground-mounted PV pow- the collaboration of its local subsidiary with the pro- er plants have attracted an investment of approxi- vincial government. Gehrlicher recently installed five mately € 32 million to the region of Murcia.” projects with a total capacity of 12 MW, says the CEO. Another company that has been looking towards “Three of them have already been connected to the the Spanish market is the manufacturer of polysilicon grid in the municipalities of Lorca, Cartagena and Hankook Silicon based in South Korea. In a joint Photovoltaics Iberia

Construction of an inverter station in the shade of a huge plastic sheet Photos (2): Innotech Solar

PV modules being installed on the south- facing roofs of greenhouses near Atarfe in the region of Granada, Andalusia. Project realisation started in spring 2011.

Granada: greenhouses covered with PV modules

ITS Power, Swiss subdivision of the The PV modules are installed on the south- The investor, Swiss utility Energie Wasser Norwegian cell and module manufacturer facing roofs. On the north-facing sides, Bern, according to Roth, aimed at gaining ex- Innotech Solar, has completed two green- nets will be stretched to protect the plants perience in PV project development in Spain houses with PV power plant roofs outside from bird damages and storms. Also, the and following the political targets of develop- of Granada, Andalusia, in October. The con- roof areas are specially designed to collect ment in renewables. “Through our building struction of the third greenhouse is sched- rain water for the plants as well as for the contractors from Murcia and Granada as uled to start in December. “With a total cleaning of modules. many people living in neighbouring villages area of 62,000 m2, the greenhouses will be The project was developed and executed as possible have been commissioned to used to recultivate oil groves”, says ITS by ITS Power and their partner Navitacum, work on the installations”, says Roth. Project Manager Stefan Roth. Rated power an engineering company with office in ITS Power looks for equity investors to other of the whole plant will reach 4.3 MW. One Murcia. It was approved by the Spanish PV projects. “Since bank financing is cur- target was to offer a business perspective Industry Ministry yet at a time when PV rently very difficult to obtain from Spanish for land owners, who do not expect a bright plants on greenhouses received the higher banks other sources are needed,” says future in olive growing anymore. “The ten- feed-in tariff for roof installation. The gov- Roth. Besides projects with a guaranteed ant will be a company, which is operating ernment later scraped off this surplus in feed-in tariff, ITS Power develops large-size greenhouses in the area to grow young order to prevent greenhouses being built projects targeting at selling the produced trees that allow for reforestation, e.g. after especially to create roof space for PV in- power on the electricity market – without fires”, explains Roth. stallation. subsidies. Volker Uphoff

venture, Hankook Silicon and the Spanish PV manu- based on 2,650 heliostats. What makes the CSP facturer Isofotón plan to establish a new polysilicon plant special: “The heat storage system permits in- factory in Cádiz, in the region of Andalusia. On com- dependent electricity generation for up to 15 hours pletion, the factory is expected to have an annual pro- without any solar feed”, says Frank Wouters, Director duction capacity of 10,000 t. of Masdar Power. Torresol Energy received € 171 million of fi- More CPV nancing for its Gemasolar project through a trans- action involving several financial institutions, Spain enjoys a very sunny climate and high levels of among them Banco Popular, Banesto, ICO and the solar irradiation, which has attracted the developers European Investment Bank. Another CPV power of Concentrated PV technologies to the country. plant that was recently connected to the grid is lo- Torresol Energy, a joint venture formed by Abu Dhabi’s cated in Cordoba. The plant has a capacity of 50 MW future energy company Masdar and the Spain-based and was installed by the company Acciona Energy. engineering and construction firm Sener, recently an- It is the second CPV plant put into operation by nounced the completion of “Gemasolar Park” near Acciona in Spain. In total, the company has invest- Seville. The Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant ed more than € 500 million into its two solar produces an annual rated power output of 19.9 MW projects Palma del Río I and II.

124 Sun & Wind Energy 12/2011 Sign of life from Portugal tied to Crédit Agricole. Sol Cativante Lda, a subsidiary of Martifer Solar Group, was awarded permits for 17 Similar to Spain, Portugal is abundant in sunshine projects. and offers an excellent environment for the utilization of concentrated PV technologies. Opel Solar and the Conclusion Portugal-based solar company Tecneira recently en- tered a joint venture for the construction of a 1 MW The Spanish solar market seems to be recovering. But CPV plant located in Alqueva, in southern Portugal. the repercussions of the changes in the regulatory Crystalline PV technologies are equally on the rise: framework and the economic crisis are still felt. The the Portugal-based EPC contractor Martifer Solar has suspension of 360 solar parks that qualified for the been awarded an order for the construction of a attractive tariff of 0.475 €/kWh is a recent example. 22 MW open space system in the south of the coun- The premium is paid out only if the installations had try. The system was commissioned by an unnamed been fully operational by the end of September 2008. client of BNP Paribas Clean Energy Partners. Henrique Officials doubted that this was the case in these 360 Rodrigues, CEO of Martifer Solar, is proud to have at- projects. The role of the government has also been tracted foreign investment to the Portuguese renew- criticized in the tenders invited in Portugal. Here, it able energy sector despite the ongoing economic remains to be seen whether the policy-makers have downswing. “These 22 MW will be the first of a total made a real effort to give an impetus to PV technolo- of 33 MW to be built by Martifer Solar in southern gies or just an attempt to balance the state budget. Portugal. I am sure that these projects will bring rele- Markus Grunwald vant benefits for this region, both economically and Further information: environmentally”, says Rodrigues. Acciona Energy: www.acciona-energia.com The potential of PV has not only been noticed by Asociación de la Industria Fotovoltaica: www.asif.org the industry players. The Portuguese government has Conergy: www.conergy.de European Photovoltaic Industry Association: www.epia.org developed an equally strong interest, it seems. Be- First Solar: www.firstsolar.com sides the standard feed-in tariff, the government has Gadir Solar: www.gadirsolar.es implemented a tendering and concession scheme for Gehrlicher Solar: www.gehrlicher.com Instituto para la Diversificación y Ahorro de la Energía: www.idae.es solar power permits. The tender has been split into Martifer Solar: www.martifersolar.com two phases and offers permits for 75 PV power plants, Opel Solar: www.opelinc.com each with a capacity of 2 MW. Investors interested in Torresol Energy: www.torresolenergy.com submitting tenders had to pay a minimum up-front fee of € 800,000 per project. The first round has already been closed and investors even paid twice as much as expected to obtain a permit, which is not surprising considering that no construction-specific requirements had been made. Portugal offers a gen- erous tariff of 0.257 €/kWh for a period of 20 years, which will be adjusted to the consumer price index on a monthly basis. The first round by itself is believed Aerial view of the PV project to have generated € 2.3 million. But there are also Ecoparque de Bullas realised critical voices who say the auctions have been mere- by Gehrlicher in the province ly an attempt to fill empty public coffers. 29 permits of Murcia (2007). The rated were issued to Neoen SGPS SA, a subsidiary of the power is 5,000 kW. French group Direct Energie, which is economically Photo: Gehrlicher

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