Intelligence Brief

Seeking a CPV regulatory framework in Spain

28 October 2009

The CPV sector is currently competing with green technologies that have sufficiently proved their feasibility (biofuels, wind, PV...) finding easier to receive governmental subsidies and tax benefits that make them more attractive to potential investors.

All this despite the fact that CPV systems have shown their technical viability in various demonstration projects and have demonstrated to achieve higher efficiencies than PV technologies.

Thanks to the concentration technology, CPV systems can use very small cells, whose surface area is nowadays up to 1000 times smaller than the collecting surface, but still more sophisticated than conventional silicon cells. Current CPV systems can reach efficiencies of about 25% in comparison to the 13-20% efficiencies typical of PV systems.
 
It is predicted that CPV efficiencies will gradually increase throughout the years thanks to the development of new solar cells that could reach efficiencies of 45% by 2014, with a theoretical maximum efficiency of up to 87% according to the experts.

Estimates also predict that CPV costs could be lower than 1$/W, for the complete system, when its accumulated production exceeds 1GW. With these prices CPV technology could be competitive against conventional electricity generation systems.
 
Taking into account all this and the complicated current economic situation, it seems clear the need for measures to promote the development of the emerging CPV technology in key markets like Spain.
 
Precisely in Spain a recent initiative has emerged from the debates and discussions that took place during the 2nd Concentrated Photovoltaic Summit organised by CPV Today in Toledo last April.  The Summit was officially opened by the vice-president of Castilla la Mancha, Ms Maria Luisa Araújo, chaired by Mr Ignacio Luque-Heredia, General Director of BSQ Solar, and attended by world-leading experts and manufacturers in the business as well as representatives from the industrial and financial sectors with a keen interest in this technology.

During the Round Table Discussions for a CPV Regulatory Framework in Spain chaired by Mr Javier Anta, President of ASIF (Spanish Photovoltaic Industry Association), and in a subsequent meeting under the patronage of ASIF, it was agreed the creation of a working group constituted by Spanish experts aiming at elaborating a proposal to reform the current CPV Spanish legislation, in order to promote a favourable regulatory environment for the development of the CPV Industry.  

The working group is formed by: Pedro Banda, General Director of ISFOC; Pablo Valera, General Director of Astrom; Manuel Cabrerizo, an expert in photovoltaic project financing; and the above mentioned Ignacio Luque-Heredia; and coordinated by: Prof. Gabino Almonacid and Prof. Pedro Pérez from The Centre for Energy and Environmental Studies of the University of Jaén.

The proposal currently under preparation is being co-funded by ASIF and ISFOC and it will include a tariff model similar to the one currently active in the PV sector (28 c€/kWh), although incorporating an additional risk compensation value in the case of CPV (28 + X c€/kWh, being X a risk compensation value still to be determined).

This risk compensation value could be taken on by the State Budget through, for example, tax benefits. It would also be temporal and reduce its value in an important percentage each year (higher than 10%) till its complete extinction after several years, moment in which the CPV tariff would reach the PV tariff.

The proposal considers that thanks to this regulatory environment the Spanish CPV sector could start developing 20MW per year by 2010.

In summary, it seems reasonable to predict that the capability of the CPV sector to compete with other renewable energies, and especially with its sister PV technology, will highly depend on the development of regulatory policies supporting the creation of a favourable investment climate.

By introducing appropriate measures the CPV technology could achieve its technical and financial maturity in a few years, contributing to the development of an alternative technology within the renewable energy sector in the near future.