Renewable energy production sharpens its decline after the blackout

Spain has produced 65,082 gigawatt hours ( GWh) of electricity from renewable energy so far in 2025, 1.4% less than the previous year, with a 3.1% drop in May.

According to data extracted by Servimedia from Red Eléctrica statistics, the May decline causes the fall in production of these technologies to accelerate after the blackout on April 28, since until then it was only 0.2%. As a result, their contribution to the energy mix falls by 2.1 points this year, standing at 59.2%, compared to the 61.3% recorded at this point in 2024.

Renewable generation is declining, especially due to the lack of wind and, to some extent, hydroelectric production , which cannot be offset by the rise in photovoltaic power, leading to increases in gas, more intensely after the blackout, and also in nuclear power.

Specifically, gas production, which sets the price of electricity as it is the most expensive, increased by 24.4% compared to the previous year, raising its share to 13.3%, 2.4 points more than the 10.9% recorded in 2024. Until the blackout, it had gained 1.2 points of share, half of what it is now.

Specifically, combined gas cycle technology produced 14,624 GW/h at the start of 2025, making it the fifth largest contributor behind wind, nuclear, hydroelectric, and photovoltaic, after having led the energy mix in 2022.

Among renewables, wind energy saw its production drop significantly, its share falling to 23.5%, 2.1 points less than a year ago. Wind turbines produced 25,816 GWh, 6.3% less than at this time last year.

For its part, photovoltaic generation accumulates 17,365 GW/h, 4.6% more than in 2024, with its contribution in this period increasing by 0.4 points, to 15.8%.

Hydropower’s contribution also decreased, despite a slight increase in production. It registered a 0.7% increase, producing 18,825 GWh. Despite this, its contribution fell to 17.1%, compared to 17.4% a year ago.

Among conventional sources, production has increased moderately, with nuclear energy contributing 18.8% compared to 18.7% a year ago, producing 20,715 GW/h, an increase of 2.7%.

Another source that’s seen its share decline is cogeneration, which accounts for 5.7% of the energy generated so far in 2025, 0.3 percentage points less than the previous year. Its production stands at 6,216 GWh, a 3.7% decrease.

Finally, coal-fired power plants continue to contribute slightly , accounting for 1.1% this year. These plants generated 1,169 GWh, 1.7% more than the previous year.