The debate panel “Road to FES Iberia: Investment Perspectives for Renewable Energy”, part of the webinar “Strategies to Scale and Diversify Renewable and Storage Portfolios” organised by Energía Estratégica, produced a shared view on Spain’s energy transition. Three leading solar executives agreed on a common diagnosis: the country is entering a new stage in which managing the kilowatt-hour will be more strategic than expanding installed capacity.
“The five-year period that begins in 2026 will be the five-year period of the managed kWh,” said Andrés Pinilla, BESS Sales Director for Europe and Latin America at Risen Energy. He argued that producing renewable energy is no longer sufficient; the key will be storing it and delivering it to the market when its value is highest.
Despite the strong momentum in renewable deployment, grid bottlenecks have become the major barrier to growth, both technically and financially. “We have saturated nodes and more than 800 hours per year with zero or negative prices,” Pinilla warned.
From GameChange Solar, its Managing Director for Europe and Latin America, Óscar Aira, agreed:
“We have moved from a race to install megawatts to a phase where we seek to organise and optimise.”
Aira stressed that low energy prices, combined with a lack of regulatory predictability, “severely penalise the profitability of projects” and create investor fatigue.
For his part, Luis Contreras, Managing Director for Europe and Latin America at Yingli Solar, summarised the situation:
“We come from an absolute success in terms of renewable penetration, but now we have to face infrastructure, regulatory and storage challenges.”
The three executives were clear that capital is available, but it requires long-term visibility, clear rules and a resilient grid.
“Without grid planning and stable regulatory signals, there will be no future investment,” Aira said. The lack of effective interconnection with the rest of Europe turns Spain and Portugal into an “energy island”, where surplus generation cannot be exported or managed flexibly.
In this context, all agreed that the development of energy storage is a structural necessity, not just a technological one. “Storage will provide flexibility and robustness to the grid, but it will only be possible if clear rules truly enable it,” Contreras said.
When asked about the types of projects that will shape the immediate future, the three panellists agreed that the market will no longer reward quantity but technological quality and economic resilience.
“The new projects will no longer be purely solar or purely wind. They will be hybrid from the outset, with integrated storage and PPAs structured to protect against negative prices,” explained Contreras.
From GameChange Solar, Aira added another dimension:
“Technological reliability will be essential. We must be able to predict production and plant behaviour over 30 or 40 years.” To achieve this, logistical standardisation and intelligent algorithms will be indispensable tools.
Along these lines, Risen Energy noted that access to capital will become more demanding, and that bankability will depend on integrating proven technology, experienced operators and energy optimisation systems that maximise the value of each kWh in real time.
“Artificial intelligence will be central in this stage—not only in O&M or price forecasting, but also to prevent failures, optimise revenues and plan for secondary markets,” Pinilla emphasised.
Aira added that companies are already competing to develop algorithms that not only increase output but also generate reliable data and automated decision-making for both solar tracking and tracker operation.
Contreras pointed out that AI is also transforming module manufacturing, improving traceability, quality control and logistics efficiency—key factors for competing in utility-scale and in the commercial and industrial segments.
Although challenges are significant, industry leaders remain optimistic about Spain’s potential, especially if regulatory reforms advance, grid planning becomes clearer, and the anticipated capacity market progresses towards its expected launch in 2026.
“The Spanish market may seem saturated, but it is still attractive if things are done well: storage, innovative PPAs and artificial intelligence will make it competitive,” said Pinilla.
Business strategies and objectives towards 2026
Yingli Solar is focusing on N-Type TOPCon technology, with high-efficiency modules and low thermal coefficients designed for projects integrating hybridisation and flexible PPAs. “We rely on three pillars: technology, customer service and financial robustness,” Contreras emphasised.
GameChange Solar is working on improving its solar tracking algorithms and reducing construction times by up to 30%, using pre-assembled structures and optimised logistics. “Our company was born in Florida, with winds of up to 250 km/h. Robustness is in our DNA,” Aira remarked.
Risen Energy combines its module expertise with the development of BESS solutions for both commercial-industrial (C&I) and utility-scale segments. “Our strategy is to integrate proven technology with new financial models adapted to the Spanish context,” summarised Pinilla.
The panel’s analysis forms part of the lead-up to the Future Energy Summit (FES) Iberia, to be held on 12 February in Madrid. It will be the first stop of the FES 2026 tour, comprising nine events across Latin America and Iberia, where executives, investors and policymakers will debate how to scale and diversify renewable energy and storage portfolios in a challenging but opportunity-rich environment.
