STRUCTURAL BREAKS IN THE SPANISH ELECTRICITY PRICES: THE ROLE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY

摘要

Participation of Electricity from Renewable Energy Sources (RES-E) in Spain has been growing since 2004, when the Renewable Energy Act was passed and an incentive scheme based on tariffs and premiums was approved. However, this system imposed an important cost-burden and therefore suffered cost-containment measures from 2010 onwards, until it was completely phased out in 2013. Finally, in 2014 it was substituted by a new incentive system based on the remuneration for investment and operation of the plant. During this whole period, electricity prices experienced important changes not only in levels but also in volatility. We argue that the participation of RES-E, which is strongly linked to the regulatory framework, had a crucial influence on them. Therefore, we analyze possible structural changes that regulation may have entailed in the Spanish electricity spot price volatility during the period from January 2002 to December 2017. Specifically, we indentify three structural breaks linked to important measures related to RES-E.