At the end of May 2018, events in Spanish politics took a turn without precedent since the country embraced democracy: a motion of censure against the conservative PP (Partido Popular) by an all-but unified opposition received 180 votes in favour, 169 votes against, and 1 abstention. Pedro Sánchez, leader of the socialist PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español), took up the post of Prime Minister that Mariano Rajoy had held for the previous six years. For the PV sector, the change could not have come too soon.

The Spanish developer has acquired the Tacna Solar and Panamericana Solar projects which it developed and built for X-Elio in 2012.

After signing multiple PPAs for big solar projects in the Iberian peninsula as a buyer of electricity, the Spanish utility has announced it intends sell power from its own solar facilities. The planned PV plant portfolio will be spread across Andalucía, Castilla la Mancha and Murcia.

The green hydrogen production plant planned for the Lloseta industrial area will be a pioneer project for Spain and Europe, say regional government officials, and is scheduled to start operating from 2021.

The Chinese manufacturer has signed an agreement with Enel Green Power Chile to supply its 1500 Vdc central inverters to a PV plant at Copiapó, the largest to be built in the country to date.

Located in the town of La Paz, in Baja California Sur, the Aura Solar III plant has a generation capacity of 32 MW and includes a lithium-ion battery storage system with a capacity of 10.5 MW/7.0 MWh.

Although it is still unclear how the victorious Socialist Party will build a majority in parliament, listed Spanish energy companies such as Solaria and Audax saw the price of their shares rise significantly after the vote.

A new project is in line with the target of the Island Council of Tenerife to cover all electricity demand with renewable energy. The development of electromobility and storage is key to the ambition.

The provisions allow self-consumption for communities and industrial areas; reduce administrative procedures – especially for small self-consumers; and establish a simplified mechanism for the compensation of self-produced excess energy.

According to Spanish financial newspaper Cinco Días, UAE-based Abdul Latif Jameel Energy is trying to sell Spanish developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), which it acquired just four years ago. Although FRV has decided not to comment on the matter, market sources believe that reports of its impending sale could simply be an attempt to gauge investor appetite.