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Spain dangers missing out on 2030 wind energy target, think-tank says

Spain requires to add wind energy capability at a much faster rate or it risks missing its enthusiastic 2030 target, the U.S.based Global Energy Display ( GEM) thinktank stated in a report released on Wednesday.

Renewable energy is exceeding in the country, producing over half of its electricity in 2015. Wind power was the main factor, representing almost a quarter of the electrical power produced.

With roughly 30 gigawatts (GW) of set up wind capacity Spain is a European leader, behind only Germany, according to Spanish wind lobby AEE.

Nevertheless, regional opposition in some regions and licensing bottlenecks have weighed on the release of new wind farms.

Roughly 1.7 GW worth of wind parks are under construction, according to the GEM report, meaning that Spain is already more than midway through its end-of-decade goal of 62 GW.

While a pipeline of some 40 GW should be sufficient to reach that goal, the problem is the rate of release: over the next six years, it will require to increase nearly fivefold from the approximately 1 GW included annually on average in 2019-2023, GEM said.

As things stand, Spain isn't likely to satisfy the 2030 target for wind, stated GEM researcher Gregor Clark, the author of the report.

The Energy Ministry decreased to comment.

Addressing traffic jams and moving swiftly with the deployment of offshore wind parks will be key to achieve the objective, Clark added.

Last year, the nation only included some 600 MW of capability, below nearly 1.7 GW in 2022, according to the AEE lobby, which is likewise calling for a velocity.

Spain is on track to strengthen its European leadership in utility-scale solar projects, according to the GEM report, which screens existing renewable tasks, those under construction and the wider strategies.

Spain's 7.8 GW of utility-scale solar jobs under construction represent more capacity than the next three European countries integrated, according to the report.

(source: Reuters)