The International Energy Agency (IEA) regularly conducts in-depth peer reviews of the energy policies of its member countries. This process supports energy policy development and encourages the exchange of international best practices and experiences.
Since the last IEA review in 2015, Spain has solved a long-standing issue of tariff deficits in its electricity and gas sectors and closed all of its coal mines, which has allowed it to place the energy transition at the forefront of its energy and climate change policies.
The current Spanish framework for energy and climate is based on the 2050 objectives of national climate neutrality, 100% renewable energy in the electricity mix, and 97% renewable energy in the total energy mix. As such, it is centred on the massive development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, electrification and renewable hydrogen.
Notwithstanding its considerable progress to date on decarbonising and increasing the share of renewables in the electricity sector, Spain’s total energy mix is still heavily dominated by fossil fuels. Notably, the transport, industry and buildings sectors all have considerable work ahead of them to meet the country’s targets for decarbonisation and higher shares of renewables.
When all of Spain’s plans and strategies are implemented, a completely different energy sector will emerge in which fossil fuels are no longer dominant and end-user sectors are mostly electrified. Such a transformed energy landscape will come with new challenges and will provide new opportunities.
In this report, the IEA provides energy policy recommendations to help Spain effectively manage this transformation of its energy sector.
