Catalonia, the Basque Country and the Valencian Community fail in renewables

BarcelonaThe Basque Country, Catalonia, and the Valencian Community are the three regions with the lowest proportion of renewable energy generation relative to their total electricity production, according to data published Wednesday by Red Eléctrica de España, the state-owned company that operates the Spanish electricity system. Specifically, in the Basque Country, only 17% of the energy generated is from renewable sources; in Catalonia, it's 18%; and in the Valencian Community, it's 20%. At the other end of the spectrum are Castile and León, with 94% of its generation from renewable sources; Aragon, with 83%; Galicia, with 82%; and Castile-La Mancha, with 69%. These figures, however, must be put into context. For example, in the Community of Madrid, 50% of its generation is renewable, yet it is a region that produces very little energy overall. Thus, Madrid's renewable energy production is 625 GWh, while Catalonia's is 6,935 GWh.

Despite the limited development of renewable energy in Catalonia, the Principality is a leader in self-consumption. In 2025, Catalonia produced a total of 2,588 GWh from self-consumption installations, placing it second only to Andalusia and ahead of the Valencian Community among the regions with the highest estimated self-consumption generation. Furthermore, it also boasts one of the highest self-consumption capacitys, with a total of 2 GW installed (1.5 GW of which are photovoltaic). 62.6% of the production from these installations is from solar photovoltaics and 20.8% from cogeneration.

According to data from Red Eléctrica (the Spanish electricity grid operator), Catalonia is the region with the highest electricity demand: 44,638 GWh, a figure significantly higher than the other regions and representing a 1.3% increase compared to the same period of the previous year. Taking into account self-consumption installations, Catalan demand experiences a growth of 1.8%. Including the contribution of self-consumption installations, the Catalan energy mix in 2025 was led by nuclear power, with 56.5%, followed by combined cycle gas turbines (13.9%), hydroelectric power (9.5%), cogeneration (8%), wind power (5.8%), and solar power. With less than 0.5% of the total each, the remaining components of this generation mix are renewable and non-renewable waste, solar thermal, and other renewables.

As of December 31, Catalonia had a total of 12,981 MW of installed generation capacity, including self-consumption installations. This represents a 1.6% increase compared to the end of 2024. With these new MW, renewable technologies account for 40.2% of Catalonia's total production capacity. With these new photovoltaic MW, the Catalan generation capacity mix continues to be led by combined cycle gas turbines, with 29.2% of the total, followed by nuclear (23.4%), hydroelectric (14.8%), solar photovoltaic (13.6%), and wind (7.9%). The installed capacity mix is ​​completed by technologies such as solar thermal, other renewables, renewable waste, and non-renewable sources, each with a share of less than 0.5%.

Renewables to overcome the war crisis

At the national level, total photovoltaic production reached 50.2 GWh in 2025, a new all-time record, both in absolute terms and in its percentage share of the overall energy mix, which reached 18.4%. This was highlighted by the president of Redeia (the parent company of Red Eléctrica), Beatriz Corredor, during the presentation of theElectricity System Report 2025 The head of Red Eléctrica, along with the Secretary of State for Energy, Joan Groizard, highlighted the importance of promoting renewables to make the country more independent from energy crises like the current one, triggered by the war in Iran. "The more we can replace imported gas and oil with domestic renewables, the more resilient we will be. It cannot be that the ability of a Spanish SME or family to make ends meet depends on a decision made in Tehran, Washington, or Moscow, and not on the decisions we each make," Groizard stated. In this regard, renewable generation increased by 1.3% last year, reaching a record production of 151 GWh, primarily driven by photovoltaics, which grew by 12.5%, while other renewables advanced by 5.6%. Conversely, coal ended the year with its lowest production ever, falling 50% compared to the previous year and with its lowest share of the energy mix, contributing only 0.6% of the total. Total generation in Spain was 272.2 GWh, 55.5% of which was renewable, with the remainder coming mainly from nuclear (19%), combined cycle (16.8%), and cogeneration (5.7%). Almost 13 GWh were exported to Portugal, Morocco, Andorra, and France, although Spain still has a net import balance with France. In Europe, the average share of renewables was projected for 2025 at 47.9%, lower than a year ago, and Spain is the second-largest country, behind only Germany, in both renewable generation and installed capacity.