Spain and its Mediterranean neighbors must provide consistent rules for investors if they are to achieve their renewable energy goals, according to a European Union official. “Investors need clarity and predictability as regards a wide range of issues,” Fabrizio Barbaso, assistant director general of the European Commission’s Energy Directorate, told a conference in Valencia, Spain.
The Spanish government fueled a cycle of boom and bust the past three years as it shifted the incentives for solar power investors. Producers had pumped more than 18 billion euros ($23 billion) into new solar plants since 2008 after Spain introduced a subsidy regime that paid them more than 10 times the wholesale power price. Investors yanked their support for Spain’s solar industry this year when the Industry Ministry said it may cut those prices, which Renovalia Energy SA president Juan Domingo Ortega said he had expected his existing plants to enjoy for 25 years. (Bloomberg)