Share of renewable energy in final energy consumption

Over the last two decades, Spain has developed towards increasing energy diversification, characterised by the progressive integration of renewable energies into the national energy system. The national production potential associated with renewable energies, together with progress in energy efficiency, has had a positive effect on Spain’s self-supply capacity. The energy contribution from renewables has been higher than that of nuclear power since 2012. In the case of renewables, renewable capacity continues to grow, especially in terms of installed photovoltaic and wind power capacity. The NECP expects this upward trend to continue over the next few years, leading to a gradual reduction in primary energy dependence at the national level. The development of renewable energies is offsetting the use of oil and coal, whose contributions in terms of primary production continue to fall in line with their primary energy consumption, a consequence of the need to decarbonise the energy sector in order to meet climate targets for reducing emissions and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. While domestic coal production remained flat in 2020, as a result of the closure and inactivity of coal-fired power stations, the gradual closure of existing plants and the non-opening of new oil product and natural gas plants have reduced their contribution to domestic production. The improvement in the degree of self-sufficiency brought about by the growing share of renewable energies contributes to moderating the impact of Spain’s highly energy-dependent external trade balance. Gross electricity generation from renewable energy sources during 2020 reached 117 619 GWh, representing 44.7% of total electricity generation.