Oh nooooooo! Cheaper energy and less fossil fuels?!? How will our poor precious billionaires possibly survive this?

People using less energy is a good thing not a crisis

What a horrible headline. It turns the positives of the green transition into a negative.

Poor Spain. Too much green energy which means cheap power for the people. Lucky the Brits don’t have this problem.

I think Spain is doing what every nation should be doing. Very proud of Spain 🇪🇸.

What a nightmare. Too much green energy.

OH NO, WE'VE REACHED SUSTAINABILITY.

‘Crisis in the industry’ = rich people profiting from poor people that need electricity won’t be earning millions from it anymore 🤷‍♂️

"crisis "!!! where? what is it? homes have electricity and they are efficient is not a crisis

Heaven forbid consumers benefit and investors lose out 🙄

Who has paid you for this 😂 I haven't heard anything that constitutes a "crisis" other than energy prices going down and people being more self sufficient. The only negative you stated was less investment in industry by institutional investment groups. The investment in the industry comes from millions of people buying solar panels, it doesn't have to come from corporations looking for a return on their investment. Less money spent on energy means more money to spend in the community instead of being sat in off shore accounts. Excess energy can disrupt the grid, but if the energy is produced and used at the source, it doesn't even go into the grid and excess energy can and is often exported to other nations. The economy going up doesn't mean energy usage going up. Just like more powerful microchips doesn't mean bigger microchips, you said it yourself in the next sentence, efficiencies and progression in technology and more sustainable living 🤦🏻‍♂️ All you need is batteries that have been around for more than long enough but seem to be intentionally held back in development and adoption. About 25 years ago I had rechargable batteries and they were in almost every shop. I can't remember the last time I saw them without looking at specialist shops.

Plenty of capacity. Well done Spain.

Can't they just sell it to other EU countries?

Sounds like a storage problem rather than a generation problem

The headline makes it sound like a severe and ominous situation. All that’s happening is that they’re doing what needs to be done and some companies are temporarily not raking in huge profits. That’s not alarming. That’s just reality. Please stop making up issues.

Alternative title: Spaniards humble brag that they have too much sun

Way better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it

What has the BBC become....even spinning a positive move as negative. Battery Tech and bilateral EV car charging will solve all the problems.

I'm so sick of corporate media caring more about bad corporations fading away then they do about human lives being better and the planet being healthier.

How on earth are you framing this as negative? Oh no some executives abd oligarchs may be feeling a bit of a squeeze, how sad. Well done Spain!

Energy prices skyrocket: "That's just the way it is sweaty, suck it up" Energy prices threaten to fall; "This is a crisis that we all need to be terrified about"

I live on a Caribbean island, St. Vincent, and today I have five guys here installing a 4.95 GW solar system for my home. The installers have told me that the monopoly state - owned supplier here, VINLEC, has to certify any solar system before it can be connected to the grid. Although my roofs have the capacity for far more panels, I am limited to a maximum solar generating capacity of 5.0 GW. This is because VINLEC ( who generate electricity almost entirely using imported diesel oil from Venezuela) have cut the limit from 10.0 GW to 5.0 GW because with almost year-round sunshine, and temperatures rarely below 26C during the day, their electricity sales and so their profitability would plummet if domestic and corporate systems produced 10.0 GW and as they are the unofficial cash cow for the government, this isn't acceptable. Insane.

The absolute absurdity of this title… The absolute absurdity of our economic system…

“However despite the successful move towards green energy sources, electricity consumption has been dropping.” What?! Crisis?! Isn’t this the point of green energy?!

The headline is rubbish. Too much energy? Lower the prices for consumers to increase demand!!

If you’re looking for an industry to use all that cheap electricity look no further than desalination! It opens avenues for more agricultural industry and gobbles power like almost nothing else.

How on Earth did the BBC get this so wrong?

Good! More supply than demand should mean lower prices for us!

Oh no we have too much clean energy! That’s a good problem to have. We need to adjust our grids to accommodate renewables and shift our grids accordingly and we will be fine

Not enough profit for someone 😂

Im failing to see the crisis... 🤔

Oh dear poor energy companies. My heart bleeds for them.

BBC news can be too similar to the Daily Mail or the Daily Express at times in that things can only ever be reported as crisis or disaster. There's not always this need to be so dour or scary.

Just export the energy to other countries

I cannot see a real problem here. There is a Spain - France interlink which could be added to so the Spanish could export more electricity if they have a surplus. This sounds like another of the 'scare story' news items so beloved of the mainstream media. Shows how far the BBC have fallen. I would be far more impressed by a story on the opportunities this increase in renewables brings.

Weird! If all this cleaner renewable energy was publicly owned, it would be a win-win situation. Lower costs, lower bills, less risk, less pollution, lower tax.. come on people,sort it out!

Every penny not going to the oil giants is a win.

oh no, not cheap energy, how will the energy ceo buy their 5th mansion now :(

2:07 “while good for consumers-“ shut up after that, you’ve said everything necessary.

As someone who studies sustainability, this is essentially the goal of the Paris Accords and ambitious green policy programs. Use energy more efficiently while making it cheaper for consumers. Only people worried are utilities that have to maintain infrastructure without the revenues from an increase in the demand. Probably need some modern infrastructure improvements but this should be celebrated.

Energy storage is the issue now with Spain. Sand heat storage would be a great solution for these applications.

The tone and the headline for this story was like it was written by power producers.

Really scraping the barrel to find ways to make renewable energy look bad.

Like the other comments here, why is it being presented as a crisis? Abundant renewable energy and lower energy demand through DSM is a great opportunity for energy companies to export.

What a misleading title

Use any "surplus" electricity to produce green hydrogen. Germany is doing this in Mauritania. H2 can be used for cars, ships, business with no CO2 produced. Bravo Spain,

The whole point of renewable energy is that it's a cheap, low cost form of energy. An entire facet of 'sustainability' revolves around consuming less. Surely there is a Government policy that addresses a plan for when we meet our green energy targets, such as removing the need for private investor incentives or demarketization of renewable energy

Hydrogen! Store the excess energy as green hydrogen. This can be charged for or exported as required.

Not mentioned.. is exporting electricity to neighb. Countries. France often sends x grid excess electricity from nuclear to its neighbours

Why is this a problem?

Less energy consumption? GREAT!!

Insane that this is a problem.

Spaniard here. I installed solar panels in my home back in 2021. My average yearly consumption went from 3'5 MWh/year to 2'2 MWh/year; yet I make the same use of appliances. It's not that energy consumption has been dropping, it's that millions of homes in Spain have reduced their grid dependency by a third. When you add up the numbers of national consumption, yes, it has gone down. But that is because of a change in how energy is generated and consumed; and measured. The next step is going to be installing micro wind turbines at home, that's bound to half my 2020 numbers.

I dont understand , what crisis here? Except cheaper energy. Hurting the investors wallet?

We have an environment crisis, having more renewable energy than needed, isn’t a crisis! Spain can sell that exceeding energy to other countries in Europe, if it is not using it all.

The issue that people have is that the cost of energy is still too high for many in Spain, people don't turn on AC units even if it's 47c outside due to the cost and try to make by with just fans. Energy in Spain is heavily monopolized and still high cost considering supply and demand. While it may look affordable to other countries, and Spain's wages have increased, they are still behind in earning compared to many other countries and rent still takes a significant portion of the budget. So yeah, we use less cause we can't afford it...

Not everything has to be viewed through lenses of economy.

In South Africa during the day we reportedly use excess electricity to “recharge” our pumped storage capacity that we use for peak demand times in the evening when there is no solar electricity.

This is beyond ridiculous, testament to where we are as a nation.

It's only a crisis for the energy company shareholders and the millionaire CEO's. It's great for ordinary people, it will drive prices down.

The only actual "problem" here is logistics. Getting all large energy consumers to schedule peak use during times of peak supply. Creating storage to move midafternoon power into evenings. And enhancements to the grid to let power be sent where it is needed most, to help balance loads and supply. It's humans planning ahead, finding financing, and working together. That is the real challenge.

"On the sun soaked plains of central Spain solar farms are a common sight" Good alliteration :)

Why is oversupply a crisis? Legit question

Oh no it's a minor inconvenience for rich investors! We have to do something!

Connect it to the European grid and sell it to the Germans

So?

It’s hard for me to understand what exactly the crisis is. Maybe BBC had to fill 4 minutes of broadcasting with something and that’s what they came up with.

"low energy prices could deter investment" This makes me laugh. High energy prices are bad for business but according to BBC low enegery prices are bad for business.

lol is this headline a joke

Excess supply is there because of lack of battery storage. Gas fired power plants are still needed for windless nights. Using those power plants as just backups is insanely expensive. This price is not taken into account when they claim solar and wind is cheaper than ff powerplants.

What is bad for big corporations is almost always good for everyone else.

If they get abundant cheap clean energy then they can use it for industries thay would otherwise be unprofitable. Iceland has a massive aluminium refining industry and a growing green hydrogen production industry just because they have loads of geothermal power to spare. They could also just build more cables and grid scale energy storage to make it easier to export to other countries.

The price of wind and sun can’t be manipulated by opec.

Been happening in Australia where wholesale electricity prices often go negative. Energy retailers have responded and introduced plans where electricity is free between 11am and 2pm. So you then smash your AC, dishwasher, washing machine and EV between those times. Next step is household battery take up.

Fear, is that all you have. It's not a crisis, it's an opportunity.

They should talk also about the previous government, that was 'taxing' the sun! To prevent people going for greener energy

We and the planet are dying and this piece is concerned about profits of corporations?!!?!?

This is not a crisis! This is a good thing ! We should all be looking at renewable energy, becoming more energy efficient, GREENER! A healthier planet is a happy planet!

That excess energy can be sold to other nearby countries. The energy companies know this but don’t like “sharing” excess energy.

Can they not sell their electricity abroad?

Did I miss something? Isn’t that the whole point of using renewable energy to come off fossil fuels 🤔

Why has this report acting like this is a bad thing, this is exactly what we need to be doing to bring down bills and provide clean energy. Well done Spain.

Surely they could use the surplus to produce hydrogen as a form of energy storage

If today was 1st April I'd call this a clever bit of satire......

Green!!? Solar and wind are about as green as my cat litter.

So the problem is there is more renewable energy than can be used in Spain? How about just send the excess to the next country along? Why is this considered a problem???

So in reality personal energy generation at home is so good in Spain big companies are loosing money. The horror!

Use the excess energy to create green hydrogen - turn it into a major producer for green hydrogen which could become the fuel of the future.

some of the best news we’ve heard in decades and you’re calling it a crisis ?

Same problem in Pakistan. Government decided to put a tax on Solar, so much so that's it not worth making renewable energy anymore.

Good, let power stations using non renewable be shut down or be on standby.

I was think BBC will blame Chains overcapacity.

I still don't see what the issue is here..

Surely for the Industry, you just start... exporting?

They raise subsidies, which raises consumer rates, which causes drop in usage. "Know it all" politicians at their best.

This is not a renewables problem it’s an issue relating of adaptation as industries and markets fail to keep pace

So they’re doing what we’re all told needs to happen and it’s a bad thing now?

Well this is the most confusing thing I've watched in a while. The country uses less energy and the energy its using is more efficient as well as clean and this sparks a 'crisis' ? WTAF

What a ridiculous news clip. That's brilliant that Spain is expanding their renewables and becoming more efficient. They can export the surplus to Morocco, Portugal and France and we can then import more electricity than we currently do from France for our very high electricity demand in the UK.

This sounds like a success story and something that every other country should aim to achieve. Its the only way out of environmental crisis. Why is BBC turning this achievement into a crisis?