Consequences of the increase in renewable energies and photovoltaic self-consumption on electricity demand in peninsular Spain

Abstract

In a world increasingly concerned about climate change and sustainability, the use of renewable energies is becoming more and more important, becoming the priority option for electricity generation. Photovoltaic sources for electricity generation have seen very strong growth in recent years, making it easier to phase out electricity generation from polluting sources such as coal. Likewise, photovoltaic self-consumption has facilitated a significant decrease in electricity demand during the hours of greatest luminosity. If this demand reduction is added to the strong implementation of photovoltaic sources, the result is that during daylight hours electricity production relies only on renewable sources, causing the price of electricity to drop drastically to values close to 0 € during those hours. Once this source ceases to produce, during nighttime hours, more expensive sources, such as natural gas, have to come into operation making the price of electricity more expensive. This results in a strong daily fluctuation of prices.