Electricity self-consumption with photovoltaic solar panels
Ente Vasco de la Energía (the Basque energy agency) has always been committed to solar power and has promoted investment in photovoltaic facilities amongst different tiers of government.
More than 170 photovoltaic plants with an average capacity of 5 kWp have been installed on the roofs of larger public-owned secondary schools.
This operation has been extended to other authorities, and a further 50 photovoltaic plants of varying capacity have been built on the roofs of buildings and public car parks owned by the Basque Government and local authorities, with total installed capacity of over 5 MWp.
To date, the facilities have generated over 5,850 MWh of power, with more than 2,900 tonnes in avoided carbon emissions per year.
At the same time, through its affiliate Bilbao Exhibition Centre Solar, S.L., EVE has developed a self-consumption PV installation in two phases. The first phase, with output of 0.9 MWp, came into operation in May 2023, while the second, which opened in June 2024, increased total output to 1.5 MWp.
The plant on the roof of Pavilion 6 of the BEC consists of 2,700 solar panels and thirteen 110 kW inverters. It covers a total area of 6,975 square metres and with estimated annual production of 1,500 MWh per year it can meet approximately 17% of the BEC’s total electricity demand. Of the power produced, 99.6% is self-consumed, saving 497 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
Practically since its foundation in the 1980s, EVE has also been running a programme of subsidies to support renewable power generation facilities for self-consumption, developed by private and public initiatives.
It has allocated tens of millions of euros in aid to develop thousands of self-consumption facilities, totalling more than 180 MWp of installed capacity. Together, these projects have resulted in tens of thousands of tonnes of avoided carbon emissions and have made a significant contribution to the energy transition and sustainability in the Basque Country.
