Making Renewable Electricity Policy in Spain

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxiii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • John S. Duffield

   Pages 1-12

3. Laying the Groundwork: Early Efforts to Promote Renewable Power in Spain

   • John S. Duffield

   Pages 13-24

4. The Classical Period: Renewable Power Takes Off

   • John S. Duffield

   Pages 25-50

5. The Dark Ages: Reponses to the Renewables Boom

   • John S. Duffield

   Pages 51-75

6. The Renaissance of Renewable Power

   • John S. Duffield

   Pages 77-99

7. The Battle Over Self-Consumption

   • John S. Duffield

   Pages 101-133

8. Future Prospects for Renewable Power in Spain

   • John S. Duffield

   Pages 135-162

9. The Politics of Renewable Power in Spain

   • John S. Duffield

   Pages 163-183

10. Back Matter

    Pages 185-189

    PDF

This book examines the politics of renewable electricity policy in democratic Spain. It provides the first comprehensive political analysis of how and why successive Spanish governments have increased or reduced support for renewable power, especially wind and solar. In particular, it identifies the key influences that have been brought to bear on decision making by the core executive as it has sought to determine the appropriate role of renewable sources in the country’s electricity mix. Following the introduction, four chapters chart the dramatic rise, fall, and, most recently, renewed rise in support for utility-scale renewable power, from the early 1980s to the present. Another chapter details the decade-long political struggle over the regulation of small-scale distributed renewable electricity generation. The penultimate chapter explores the future prospects for renewable power in Spain, and the final chapter offers an overarching explanation of the patterns of policy outcomes observed.

• Environmental politics
• Renewable energy
• Renewable power
• solar power
• wind power
• Spain
• Spanish politics
• Spanish government
• renewable power
• climate change
• Renewable Energies Plan
• National Storage Strategy
• Electricity Sector Law
• climate plan
• Integrated National Energy
• self-consumption

“This book helps us understand the power of politics, sometimes much larger than economics or engineering, in the development of renewable energy. This knowledge will be essential for academics and practitioners engaged in the large-scale deployment expected from renewable energy in the coming years.”

—Pedro Linares, Director of the International Doctoral School of Comillas Pontifical University, Spain

• Department of Political Science, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA

  John S. Duffield

John S. Duffield is Professor of Political Science and Director of Assessment and Review at Georgia State University, USA. His research focuses on the politics of energy and climate change in the United States and other developed countries. He is the author of four books and has co-edited two others.