GENERATION 2023
Renewable electricity generation
Information based on provisional data as of January 2024
In 2023, renewable energy surpassed 50 % annual generation for the first time in history.
Renewable production in the Spanish electricity system increased by 15.1 % in 2023 compared to the previous year, setting an all-time high of 134,321 GWh. The share of renewable production in the national mix has reached a new all-time high. Additionally, it has become the majority share for the first time in history, with a share of 50.3 % compared to the 42.2 % of 2022. This year was characterised by significant contributions from wind and solar photovoltaic, both of which exceeded all-time highs in terms of both production and share in the national mix.
To enable the operation of an electricity system with such a high penetration of renewable energies under safe conditions, the control and supervision work carried out by Red Eléctrica de España's Renewable Energy Control Center (CECRE) is essential.
The work of CECRE has enabled the contribution of renewable energies to mainland electricity generation to reach an all-time high in 2023 with a 52.2 % share of electricity generation, 3.8 percentage points higher than the previous all-time high recorded in 2021, when renewables accounted for 48.4 % of the mainland energy mix. This higher share of renewable generation in 2023 is due to the 41.1 % increase in hydro production and 34 % increase in solar photovoltaic production over the previous year, a consequence of weather conditions and the increase in installed capacity in the mainland system.
During all months of 2023 (except September), monthly renewable generation on the mainland was higher than in the previous year, coinciding with the increase in hydro, wind and solar photovoltaic production. The highest increases in renewable energy occurred during the first and fourth quarters of the year, with January recording the highest growth with a value of 38.5 %, which was also the most renewable month in history, with a production of 13,358 GWh. November was the month with the highest share of renewable technologies in the mainland mix, with 61.9 %. In addition, this year has seen the highest values of renewable generation recorded to date for the months of May, June, July, July, August, October, November and December.
Finally, Friday 27 January marked an all-time high for daily renewable generation, with 573,389 MWh and Friday 3 November was an all-time high for daily renewable participation, with 76.1 % of total generation in the mainland electricity system.
New renewable production maximums in the electricity systems of the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.
In the electricity system of the Balearic Islands, renewable technologies have reached a historical maximum of annual production in 2023, with 519 GWh, 28.0 % higher than the renewable production of the previous year. 11.4 % of energy production in the Balearic Islands' electricity system was generated from renewable sources, a new historical record that exceeds the previous one, set in 2022, by 3.9 percentage points.
During the months of 2023, renewable generation in the Balearic Islands has exceeded the historical record on several occasions, reaching a new maximum in August, with 59,180 MWh, 36.2 % above the same month of the previous year. Furthermore, the monthly renewable share in the Balearic Islands' generation mix has broken its historical record several times during 2023 and reached a share of 16.2 %, 5.5 percentage points higher than the previous maximum, recorded in May 2021.
2023 has also been a year of records in renewable production for the Canary Islands electricity system. In July 2023, renewable generation in the Canary Islands surpassed all previous records, with a value of 248,311 MWh. In that same month, the share of renewable generation in the energy mix of the Canary Islands also surpassed the historical record, reaching a value of 32.6 %.
Annual evolution of renewable energy production
Renewable production structure by power station type and by autonomous communities
The daily production of the Balearic Islands' electricity system also exceeded the previous all-time high for renewable generation, achieving a record 2,161 MWh on Monday 8 August 2023, as well as for renewable participation in the Balearic Islands' mix, with 20.5 % on Sunday 23 April.
Likewise, the daily renewable production in the Canary Islands recorded an all-time high for generation on Tuesday 10 October 2023, with 11,458 MWh.
Maximum Renewable Generation
Summer: June-September.
In 2023, the mainland hydropower stations increased their output
Mainland hydro production in 2023 reached 25,269 GWh, which represents an increase of 41.1 % compared to 2022, a particularly dry year, which led to the lowest hydro production in recorded history. Its contribution to the mainland generation structure was 10.0 %, 3.1 percentage points higher than in the mix of the previous year. In 2023, the total generated by hydroelectric power stations placed this technology as the fifth largest source of generation in the mainland total.
In the comparative graph of mainland hydro generation 2022-2023, shows how, during 2023, hydro production was higher than during 2022 for practically the whole year, except in the months of April, May, August and September. The month in which hydroelectric production recorded the greatest increase was November, with a growth of 163.0 %. In contrast, the largest reduction in monthly hydro production was registered in May, when hydro plants generated 27.7 % less than in the same month in 2022.
Monthly hydro generation 2022-2023 compared to average generation
Maximum and minimum daily hydro coverage
In 2023, the hydro producible (maximum amount of electricity that could have been produced with the hydro contributions registered) reached a value of 26,489 GWh, 36.2 % higher than that recorded in 2022, but 8.2 % lower than the historical annual average value. Therefore, it can be concluded that 2023 has been a dry year as a whole, since the hydro-produced index, defined as the quotient between producible energy and average producible energy, has reached a value of 0.92.
Daily producible hydro power during 2023 compared to the historical average producible
Hydro reserves were above the statistical average in 2023
In terms of precipitation quantity, 2023 was a very dry year as a whole. It started with normal rainfall levels in January, which were followed by a very dry February, with average precipitation values reaching 93 % and 33 % of the normal value for the month, respectively. The spring was overall very dry in terms of precipitation, the second driest spring season on record (records began in 1961), second only to the spring of 1995. In contrast, the summer was very wet, and autumn was also wet, with values around 121 % relative to the normal value for these quarters in the reference period 1991-2020. Finally, the month of December was very dry, with an average precipitation value representing 46 % of the normal value for the month.
During 2023, hydro reserves have been above the statistical average (calculated using the values of the last twenty years) during January, October, November and December. Reserves began the year with a slight decline, but the filling percentage remained above 50 % until May. In the summer months the decline became more intense, and in September it reached the lowest point of the year, with a filling percentage of 37.8 %, a value which, despite the drop, is still 11.6 percentage points higher than that of the same month in 2022.
In the last three months of the year, hydro reserves experienced an increase, bringing the volume of water in hydro reservoirs in Spain to 51.0 % of their filling capacity on 31 December 2023, a value 6.6 percentage points higher than in the previous year.
Annual evolution of total, annual, and hyper-annual hydropower reserves
Installed hydropower and reserves as of December 31 by peninsular hydrographic zone
In 2023, wind was the leading technology in the generation mix
In 2023, the national generation capability added more than 570 MW of new wind power capacity, which led to several record highs during the year.
Firstly, in the mainland electricity system, wind power production set a new record in 2023, with an annual total of 61,243 GWh, which is 2.4 % more than that recorded the previous year. This increase occurred mainly in the first and fourth quarters of the year, when wind generated 13.0 % and 7.0 % more than in the same periods of 2022, with January recording a 36.8 % increase in production compared to the same month in 2022. In addition, January, May, August, and October recorded the highest monthly wind productions to date for each of these months.
On Thursday 9 March at 20:35, a new record of instantaneous wind power generation capacity was reached in the mainland electricity system, with a value of 20,897 MW. This new maximum represents an increase of 2.8 % with respect to the previous maximum of 20,330 MW, recorded on Monday 21 November 2022 at 18:37.
The high variability of wind generation can be observed in the graph of maximum and minimum daily wind coverage. During 2023, the daily share of wind production in the generation mix ranged from a minimum of 3.0 % on December 18 to a maximum of 56.1 % on October 26, which has also meant a new historical maximum of wind power participation in the mainland generation structure.
Wind was the technology with the highest share in the mainland production structure for eight months in 2023, namely in January (32.2 %), February (22.4 %), March (28.6 %), April (23.5 %), May (26.1 %), October (29.0 %), November (33.6 %) and December (26.7 %). In the total for the year 2023, wind power generation has reached a new all-time high in terms of participation in the mainland generation mix, with a share of 24.2 %, and has been the leading technology in the mainland mix for the third time on record, as was the case in 2013, when it tied with nuclear power generation, with a share of 20.9 %, and in 2021, when it reached 24.0 %.
Maximum and minimum daily wind coverage
As for the Canary Islands' electricity system, July 2023 registered the highest monthly wind power production in the Canary Islands, with 209,601 MWh, 12.8 % higher than the previous record set in August 2022. In the same month, the highest share of wind power participation in the Canary Islands' mix was reached, with a share of 27.5 %, which is 1.7 percentage points higher than the maximum recorded in May 2021. In addition, on Friday 14 July, wind power generation in the Canary Islands broke its historical record of daily production, with a value of 10,197 MWh.
During 2023, solar photovoltaic production reached historic production highs once again
Throughout 2023, installed solar photovoltaic power capacity was the technology with the highest increase in the Spanish electricity system, adding more than 4,600 MW to the generation capability and representing 19.8 % of the national total.
This momentum has allowed solar photovoltaic production in 2023 to register maximums in the different electricity systems of the national territory. During 2023, solar photovoltaic generation in the mainland electricity system increased by 34.0 %, reaching 36,604 GWh, which represents a new annual production record. The annual contribution of this technology to the mainland mix has also registered a maximum value, with a share of 14.5 %, which means a growth of 1.4 percentage points compared to 2022, and maintains the fourth position in the mainland generation structure, which it held for the first time in 2022.
During 2023, the monthly photovoltaic solar production on the mainland has been the highest to date, reaching 113.6 % more in March than in the same month in 2022. In addition, during July, solar photovoltaic produced the highest monthly amount recorded to date in the mainland electricity system, with 4,476 GWh and reached the maximum share in the generation structure of the entire statistical series with a value of 20.1 %.
On a daily basis, on Wednesday 2 August 2023, the mainland solar photovoltaic production reached an all-time high, with a value of 160,370 MWh, and on Saturday 12 August it reached an all-time high in terms of representation in the mainland energy mix, with 23.6 %.
During 2023, the historical maximum of instantaneous photovoltaic generation power in the mainland electricity system was beaten on several occasions, reaching a new all-time high on Friday 2 May at 13:27, with a value of 15,788 MWh.
And lastly, on Saturday 8 April 2023 at 13:06, a new historical maximum of solar photovoltaic generation with respect to demand was reached in the mainland electricity system, with a value of 70.2 %.
Maximum and minimum daily solar coverage
During 2023, solar photovoltaic generation in the Balearic Islands grew by 42.5 % compared to the previous year and reached its historical record of annual production, with 383,885 MWh. This technology has also surpassed its maximum share in the generation structure of the Balearic Islands, representing 8.4 % of annual production (5.0 % in 2022) and has taken third place in the mix for the first time, overtaking diesel engine generation.
In August 2023, solar photovoltaic facilities in the Balearic Islands produced the highest monthly amount of energy recorded to date, with a value of 44,373 MWh, and in April solar photovoltaic production broke its historical maximum share in the generation mix, with 12.6 % of the total, surpassing the previous maximum of 8.3 %, recorded in May 2021.
Additionally, on Monday 7 August 2023, solar photovoltaic generation in the Balearic Islands reached an all-time high for daily production, with 1,630 MWh, and on Sunday 23 April it set a record for daily participation in the Balearic Islands' electricity mix, with 16.4 %.
On the same day, 7 August at 13:50, a new all-time high was reached for instantaneous solar photovoltaic generation in the Balearic electricity system, with a value of 218.1 MW, and on Sunday 5 November at 12:20, it set a new record for solar photovoltaic generation in relation to demand, with 38.9 %.
Solar photovoltaic production in the Canary Islands in 2023 has also beaten its annual historical maximum, with 344,241 MWh, which represented 3.9 % of the Canary Islands mix. In July 2023, solar photovoltaic produced 35,003 MWh, the highest amount since the beginning of the statistical series in 2007.
On Saturday 15 April 2023, solar photovoltaic reached its highest daily value of participation in the generation mix of the Canary Islands, with 6.1 %, and on Friday 16 June it registered an all-time high for daily photovoltaic production, with 1,379 MWh.
Electricity generation
Total electricity generation
Electricity generation
Non renewable electricity generation