PHOTON International The Photovoltaic Magazine

Spain approves PV feed-in tariff improvements at last minute

Despite the devastating bomb attacks in Madrid on March 11, Spain's Council of Ministers met the next day – their last assembly before the March 14 election brought the opposition Socialists to power – and approved a Royal Decree which has resolved all the problems with the country's flawed PV feed-in tariff (see PI 3/2004, p. 20).

	© SunTechnics Técnicas Solares S.L.
Royal guarantee?: The approval of a pro-solar Royal Decree guaranteeing feed-in payments over 25 years will mean more PV in Spain, like this 61.5 kW system installed by SunTechnics.

The new law, which went into effect immediately, includes a guaranteed payment of 39.6 euro cents (49.5¢) per kWh for systems up to 100 kW – previously limited to 5 kW systems – for 25 years, with payment on 80 percent of rated power output beyond that. ASIF, Spain's PV industry association, only had expected the system size to be raised to 30 kW. Above 100 kW, the price paid out drops to 21.6 euro cents (30¢). The decree has also lifted a stifling 50 MW cap.

But Javier Anta, ASIF's president, cautions that national and local government subsidies, limited in funding and bureaucratically structured, may hamper the growth of PV sales in Spain. While he characterizes the decree as »excellent news,« Anta says Spain still has a very inefficient PV market – and a very high average for installed PV costs of €7.30 ($9.12) per W. He notes that installers have to charge for the added time it takes to handle the large amounts of paperwork required for getting the limited funds. This causes delays of payments to suppliers for orders, which – so far, at least – have not been large enough to bring down prices.

However, with the 25-year payment guarantee and very attractive tariffs of the new decree, it is likely that investors even will go for PV without limited buydowns offered by national and regional governments.