Too many renewables: Spanish power grid at risk of collapse

In 2022, Germany alone managed to install more photovoltaic capacity, while Italy had more than 1,600 new wind farms, three times those built. Rapid growth from today to 2030 could make Spain one of the world powers in renewable energy. Apart from that, there is a major problem: solar and wind burst threaten to exceed the capacity of the electricity grid.

The alarm was raised by the European Commission, as reported by El Pais: Brussels believes that “more investment in both grid infrastructure and storage is needed to integrate more renewable electricity”. “El Pais is one of the best and most modern links between the great countries of the Old Continent,” he writes, “but the size of the tsunami of photovoltaic projects—and to a lesser extent, wind power—is about to come”. It is 1,400 projects.

According to consulting firm Aurora Energy Research, the “electricity transmission system” in Spain “has not grown at a rate comparable to the rapid increase in renewable energies”. The new power plants need to be accompanied by more infrastructure, including electricity interconnection with France, which should triple by 2030. According to the commission, Spain should aim to reach 67 gigawatts of wind power and 35 photovoltaics by 2030, while it is currently just over 30 and 23.

For this, it is necessary to invest in human capital. “Lack of manpower and skills create bottlenecks in key sectors and occupations for the ecological transition,” warns the EU administrator. “High-quality education responsive to the changing needs of the labor market” and the retraining of professionals who have hitherto held other roles should, again according to the European Commission, be the two “key” actions to reduce this gap and to promote the inclusion and relocation of workers”.

Source: Today IT

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