Spanish solar swept up in the country’s most recent renewable energy auction, collecting nearly 4GW of capacity.
The auction saw its planned 3GW of clean power awards upped to 5GW, prompted by high demand across the country.
It awarded 3.9GW to the solar industry and announced 1.1GW of capacity for wind, spread over more than 40 companies, including Greenalia Power, Cobra Concesiones and Enel Green Power.
The success of Spanish solar will please the industry, which had to take a back seat to wind power at the previous auction in May.
Trade association WindEurope suggested the installation of all wind projects from across the last two auctions will translate into investments in excess of €4.5 billion (£4bn) and the creation of up to 30,000 jobs during construction.
It added it supports the EU’s proposal to extend visibility for renewables auctions scheduling to three years rather than three months.
It said this would allow supply chains, government bodies and system operators to develop better plans and ensure smooth deployment.
The group has also called on the Spanish Government to sustain investor confidence by maintaining the current level of profitability for existing projects after 2020.
WindEurope Chief Policy Officer, Pierre Tardieu, said: “Due to the four-year market standstill, we’re playing catch-up. The Spanish government is trying to deploy in the next three years what should have been done in seven.
“These types of stop-and-go policies are extremely disruptive for the wind supply chain which needs a stable calendar of tenders to thrive.”