Spain to Cut Subsidies for Solar PV, not Solar Thermal 07/22/2008 http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/16449
Last week the Spanish government announced plans to cut subsidies for solar photovoltaic (PV) power by about 75%. Although the nation expects to surpass its 2010 goal for installed solar by four fold, the down side is that generous subsidies for the industry have resulted in a ballooning tariff deficit for the country, which has risen to 4.85 billion euros, upfrom 745 million last year. Reuters reported that lending to the Spanish photovoltaic plants has risen to $3.59 billion in the year to day, up from $230.9 million euros last year and $192.44 million in 2006. As a result, the Spanish government will as the energy regulator to cap subsidies for new PV solar capacity at 300 megawatts (MW) per year--200 MW for rooftop systems and 100 MW for ground-mounted systems, which have been the highest growth area. The current cap is 1,200 MW, for which solar power generators receive a subsidy of 0.45 euros ($0.713) per kilowatt hour (KWh). Under the new plan, subsidies will decrease to 0.33 euros/KWh for rooftop systems and 0.29 euros for ground-mounted. The plan is expected to go into effect Jan. 1, 2009. Solar stocks have been pushed down in recent weeks, as rumors surfaced about the expected change in subsidies. However, Spain's Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian said yesterday the cuts will not apply to soalr thermal power, also known as concentrating solar power (CSP), according to a Reuters report. Stocks in the Spanish solar thermal company Solaria (AOR.BE) reportedly rose 25% on the news. CSP has been slower than PV technology in its emergence on the renewable energy scene, but expectations for the technology, which focuses the heat of the sun to produce steam to drive electricity producing turbines. Projects underway in the U.S. and Spain are expected to produce electricity that is cost-equivalent to electricity produced from burning coal or natural gas. Germany's Solar Millennium helped develop Spain's Andasol 1 solar thermal project, Europe's first such plant, which is due to start power production in October. In the U.S., CSP developer Ausra recently opened a facility near Las Vegas to begin producing reflectors to be used in large installations in the region. http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/16323 _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
