Solar PV in the Balearic Islands. The current scheme
- Ismael Gutierrez
- Dec 21, 2023
- 2 min read
One of the many questions property owners and prospective investors have with regards to their real estate in the Balearic Islands is whether they can install Solar PV in their properties. Why, of course the answer is not particularly easy.
The Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands, i.e. the Regional Government, has full regulatory powers when it comes to the production of electricity in those cases in which the installation is located on one if the islands of the archipelago. Thus, the Regional Government passed the Decree 33/2015, of 15 May, which modified the Plan Director Sectorial Energético de las Islas Baleares (‘PDSEIB’), which is the main framework scheme regarding the installation of renewable energy in the Balearic Islands.
The 2015 PDSEIB establishes four different types of PV installations, depending on their capacity and surface area:
Type A: those with a surface under 0.3ha (0.15ha in Ibiza and Formentera) and under 100kw of capacity.
Type B: those that are not A, with a surface under 1ha and under 500kw of capacity.
Type C: those that are not A or b, with a surface under or equal to 4ha.
Type D: any installation with a surface over 4ha.
From there, the PDSEIB divides Solar PV between those installed on buildings and those installed on the ground. The first ones are generally admitted, even though they will be subject to the urban planning dispositions and the specific limitations of, for instance, specially protected rustic (non-urban) land.
When it comes to ground installations, their viability will depend a lot on the applicable urban planning for each plot. This is specially the case in urban and allocated for development land.
However, things get trickier when it comes to rustic land (of course). The PDSEIB determines that rustic land in the Balearic Islands is to be divided into four types, depending on the suitability of the plot. Hence, each plot can have High, Medium, Low or Minimum Suitability.
From the conjunction of these criteria, several possibilities appear. The bigger the installation, the more complex the process. The higher the suitability, the more options will be available for the owner/investor to install one of the installation Types. For instance, a Type D facility will always require a specific Declaration of General Interest, will be hard to install in Low Suitability Land, and almost impossible in the Exclusionary Areas. On the other hand, a Type A installation on a High Suitability will require no permits most of the time.
All in all, what is definitely clear is that the framework is one of those really intricate schemes that give very little clarity to the owners/investors. Often times in Spain, when it comes to urban planning and environmental regulations, the accuracy and rigour of the rulings goes above their sheer clarity.
Because of this, before deciding whether to install a Solar PV in your wonderful plot in the middle of Mallorca, even if it is for self-use, please do check with a lawyer/engineer who specialises in the matter at hand. The only certainty is that, in most cases, checks and permits will be required.
