The Unión Española Fotovoltaica (UNEF) has released preliminary data for the first quarter of its study on new photovoltaic self-consumption installations, revealing a 17% slowdown in growth compared to last year. While the total volume of new installations in Q1 2025 is similar to that of Q1 2024, a comparison with the average quarterly volume from last year shows a 14% drop in the residential sector, 17% in commercial, and 20% in industrial. UNEF attributes the sharper decline in industrial installations to the longer development periods these projects typically require compared to residential and commercial ones, adding that this year"s fall in the industrial segment mirrors the dip observed in residential and commercial installations in 2024. New measures needed to meet NECP Targets UNEF warns that if this downward trend continues, Spain will not meet the targets set out in the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), which aims for 19,000 MW of self-consumption by 2030. By the end of 2024, Spain had 8,137 MW installed, of which 1,182 MW were added that year.
To meet the NECP goal, an annual average of at least 1,810 MW in new installations is needed up to 2030. "To encourage investment in self-consumption, it is essential that consumers see a significant increase in savings.
To achieve this, the variable component of the electricity bill must be increased and the fixed part reduced," explains José Donoso, UNEF"s Director General. SCurrently, the network tolls published by the CNMC are split 75% fixed and 25% variable, a structure that does not help self-consumption deliver its full potential in savings. The photovoltaic sector expects the new Royal Decree on self-consumption, currently under review by MITECO, to include long-awaited proposals, such as simplified permitting for installations up to 500 kW injected into the grid, an increase in the maximum distance between the generation and consumption point to 5 km, and measures to promote collective self-consumption. UNEF specifically calls for shared surplus capacity in collective systems and the creation of a "collective self-consumption manager role. On streamlining administrative processes, UNEF advocates for updating the exemption from access and connection permits for all installations injecting less than 15 kW into the grid, and that this threshold should not be based on installed capacity. Currently, the total capacity includes both photovoltaic technology and battery systems, which UNEF argues is an inaccurate measure. In addition, UNEF calls for faster permitting procedures, tax incentives for self-consumption investments, and compliance by Autonomous Communities with the exemption from requiring Prior Administrative Authorisation and Construction Authorisation (AAP and AAC) for installations under 500 kW, as established in Royal Decree-Law 18/2022. "Electricity generated from solar power using photovoltaic technology is, by far, the cheapest and most sustainable way to produce energy in Spain.
We have a historic opportunity to increase our savings and advance towards our decarbonisation goals.
It makes no sense that this progress should be hindered by avoidable administrative obstacles, Donoso concludes.