The self-consumption sector warns of "intrusion" and poor quality in facilities due to the 'boom' of recent years

In 2023, self-consumption returned from the extraordinarily high levels at which the energy crisis placed it in 2022 to a more moderate path, which if the 'boom' of two years ago is excluded, continues the upward path since there is data. Last year was the first in the historical series with fewer new installations -113,000 less than in 2022- and less new installed power than the previous year -700 megawatts less- and in which some effects of the enormous growth that the sector during the energy price crisis, when industry and households sought to save on the electricity bill by installing solar panels: the poor quality of some installations and the “intrusion” in an activity that had to grow at a forced pace and in the which now seems to be settling back into normality.

The quality of some installations and the “intrusion” in the sector is one of the four “concerns” that self-consumption leaves in 2023, due to an exceptional increase in activity in 2022 that forced many companies – the field of electricity, for example- to adapt to the demand for self-consumption, with workers who were not adequately trained. APPA Renovables, the main association in the sector, does not want to talk about a “bubble” of self-consumption in 2022, because it affirms that investment continued, but recognizes that we can speak of a “boom”, which led to some installations “not being made”. in the best possible way,” explains the president of APPA Autoconsumo, Jon Macías.

At the moment, there is no data on employment in the self-consumption sector in 2023 and the latest available are those for 2022 when, in line with the explosion of self-consumption, it experienced notable growth, with more than double the number of jobs created than in 2021.. With the slowdown in 2023, the sector assumes that employment data will also suffer, because in 2022 there were companies that also hired more to be able to meet the demand that has subsequently relaxed or due to concentration operations, the absorption of some companies by others that are already registering.

Fewer new installations than in 2022

APPA Renovables has presented this Monday the Annual Photovoltaic Self-Consumption Report for 2023 which, as expected for months, confirms a drop in installations and installed power compared to 2022. According to data provided by its partner companies in the fields of manufacturing, distribution and installation of solar panels and other key components, last year there were 127,304 new self-consumption installations, a drop of 113,000 fewer installations than the previous year, which APPA explains by the gradual disappearance of European aid, the rise in interest rates and the moderation of electricity prices.

In 2022, in the midst of the energy price crisis, 240,344 new installations appeared in Spain, almost 174,000 more than the previous year and ending a progression that in the year of greatest growth – between 2020 and 2021 – had not reached 40,000 new ones. annual installations. Last year, the pace returned to normal, with many fewer self-consumption installations than in 2022 -113,040- but almost double that in 2021, in a behavior that the APPA Self-consumption section relates more to the “disproportionate growth” of 2022 than with a change in trend.

Residential self-consumption continued to be more numerous than industrial consumption, although in terms of installed power, it was the other way around, because the installations on the roofs are much smaller than those placed in industrial premises. Of the 127,304 new installations in 2023, 111,795 were in homes -105,453 less than in 2022 and 58,125 more than in 2021- and there were 15,509 new industrial installations -7,587 less than in 2022 and 2,742 than in 2021-. In accumulated figures, there are currently 480,000 self-consumption installations in Spain, 410,000 residential and 70,000 industrial.

The size of installations in homes was similar to that of 2022 in 2023, 4.7 kilowatts, with an average cost of 7,085 euros. The savings in the electricity rate that they caused are equivalent to 14% of that investment, which APPA estimates would have taken seven years to recover.. In the industrial field, the average installation was 91 kilowatts, 30% more than the 70kw in 2022 and an average cost of 69,000 euros.

3% of demand and wasted electricity

In relation to installed power, in 2023 there were 1.9 new gigawatts -2.6GW in 2022 and 1.1 in 2021-, which together brought the annual production of electricity with self-consumption to 7.2 GWh in 2023, 59% more than in 2022 and that for APPA puts within reach the goal of 19 GW in 2030 that the Government seeks.

Thanks to this, self-consumption was able to cover 3% of national demand in 2023, 1.2% more than in 2022 and continuing the upward trend since data became available.. With 7.1GW currently installed, APPA emphasizes that electricity generation with self-consumption exceeds generation in nuclear power plants. As a difference, this second is available on a regular basis throughout the day, while self-consumption, like all photovoltaic and also wind energy, is only available in certain circumstances – when it is sunny, in this case.

To use the full potential of self-consumption as an electricity generator that covers part of the demand, it is necessary to develop storage, such as batteries, which also fell in 2023 because 128 MWh of storage were installed, 69% less than in 2022.. Added to this is another “concern” of APPA Renovables – along with regulation and “low electricity demand” – which has to do with the amount of electricity generated with self-consumption that is wasted because it cannot be fed into the grid.

According to its annual report, of the 7.1GW of electricity generated by self-consumption in 2023, 1.6GW, that is, 0.7%, was wasted due to “regulatory and technical barriers”. “The energy used is 82″ of the potential, with the remaining 18% being wasted: 131 million euros that we are wasting,” says the report.