Solar Forum 2026 will bring together in Madrid representatives from PSOE, Movimiento Sumar, PP and Vox to debate renewables, grids and much more.
During the Solar Forum 2026, which will be the last to be held before the upcoming general elections, scheduled for the representatives of the four main Spanish political parties, they will sit together in order to discuss their proposals on the energy transition, renewable energies, electrification, and the future of photovoltaics.
The Solar Forum 2026, of which ECOticias.com is Official Media Partner, will analyse the Renewable Acceleration Zones and will also address the new measures of the RDL 7/2026 regarding citizen benefits and their impact on project processing and social acceptance.
Energy policy debate at the Solar Forum 2026
The leading political parties will debate together and in front of the photovoltaic sector about the energy model each one proposes for Spain at the XIII Solar Forum, organized by the Spanish Photovoltaic Union (UNEF) and to be held on the upcoming 27 and 28 October at the Gran Teatro Príncipe Pío (CaixaBank) in Madrid.
For the first time in this legislature, PSOE, PP, Vox, and Movimiento Sumar will sit together in a public debate that will be specifically devoted to confronting their positions on energy matters.
They will do so at a particularly relevant moment, since this will be the last Solar Forum before the next general elections. Moreover, they will face representatives from a sector that is set to play a central role in electrification, the transformation of the Spanish energy system and industrial competitiveness.
The four major parties will express their positions
Under the title “The political key: How do they face the evolution of the energy transition?”, the debate will feature Alberto Nadal, Deputy Secretary of Economy and Sustainable Development of the Partido Popular; Marc Pons, Secretary of Just Transition of the PSOE; and Ricardo Chamorro, Deputy Spokesperson in Vox’s Ecological Transition Commission. There is also planned the participation of a representative from Movimiento Sumar, whose name is yet to be confirmed.
The panel will allow the sector to learn about and compare first-hand the proposals of the main political forces in our country on some of the decisions that will shape the country’s energy model in the coming years.
Among the topics to be discussed will be: What role should solar energy play in Spain? What should be the pace of renewables development? Has solar energy reached its development peak? How can the electrification of the economy and new demand be accelerated? And how to respond to the sector’s financing challenges?
Under the motto “Keys to the Future for the Solar Sector (2026-2030)”, the thirteenth edition of the Solar Forum 2026 will bring together over two days companies, public administrations, regulators and experts to address the major regulatory, economic, technological and social challenges that will shape the development of photovoltaics and storage in the coming years.
What are the Renewable Acceleration Zones and the citizen benefits return?
Alongside the political debate, one of the main novelties of this edition of the Solar Forum 2026 will be the analysis of the changes introduced by the RDL 7/2026 and their impact on the relationship between renewable projects, territories, and citizens.
The Solar Forum 2026 will dedicate a specific panel to the Renewable Acceleration Zones, the Certificate of Excellence, and the mandatory return of benefits, focusing on both their effects on social acceptance of projects and the implications that the new measures may have on their processing.
Grids 2025-2030: planning and challenges
The third major axis of this edition, the Solar Forum 2026, will be the new grid planning for 2025-2030 and its ability to facilitate the integration of new demand, storage and renewable generation.
The Solar Forum 2026 will analyze whether the new planning can help resolve the current bottleneck in the area of access and connection, as well as the impact that flexible access permissions will have on the capacity available for demand and on the investment needs in the grids.
In this context, the Solar Forum 2026 will pay particular attention to the problematic of certain network nodes and will analyze whether the new planning and the flexible access permissions can help unlock those points where there is no agreement on the reference value between the distributor and the transmission operator.
The debate will also address access and connection barriers for new consumers, such as data centers, and the role that additional planning elements —reactances, STATCOMs or synchronous condensers— can play in incorporating more renewable generation, demand and storage.
Looking toward 2030: many topics to address
The program of the Solar Forum 2026 will be completed with debates about the electric market, self-consumption, industrial electrification, storage, financing, voltage control and grid forming, innovation, manufacturing and cybersecurity.
The future of the electricity market will open the major sectoral debates, addressing the evolution of prices and revenues, the arrival of new demand, the periods of zero prices and energy spillovers, and the prospects for PPAs.
Self-consumption will be analyzed both for its potential to move toward a more flexible and distributed system and for its ability to accelerate industrial electrification and serve as an alternative to certain grid reinforcements. Storage, for its part, will headline two sessions focused on its bankability and financing and on the design, procurement, performance and guarantees of BESS projects.
System stability will also play a leading role with a debate on the implementation of the voltage control following the approval of the new Operating Procedure 7.4 and the regulatory development of grid forming, analyzing how renewables and storage can contribute to providing new services to the electrical system.
The meeting will also address energy system security, manufacturing and cybersecurity, the impact of the European Industrial Accelerator Act, and the new structures needed to finance solar assets in a market that has changed, from refinancing and debt adaptation to the evolution of PPAs toward tolling agreements.
A fundamental meeting point
In addition to its political, regulatory, economic and technological content, the Solar Forum 2026 will once again be the grand meeting and networking space for the photovoltaic and storage industry in Spain, with expected participation of more than 1,000 professionals and representatives from the entire value chain.
The XIII edition will take place at the Gran Teatro Príncipe Pío (CaixaBank), the new venue for the event, which over two days will bring together companies, institutions, regulators and experts to discuss the decisions that will shape the development of solar energy and storage through 2030.
