Wind Tops Spain's Electricity Table

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - Wind power edged ahead of nuclear power for the first time ever to become Spain's leading source of electricity in 2013.

Wind energy accounted for 21.1% of overall electricity demand last year, just in front of nuclear power's contribution of 21%.

Figures from the national grid operator, Red Eléctrica de España (REE), reported a general rise in renewable power and some significant decreases in traditional electricity sources such as coal and gas.

"With regard to demand coverage, it is worth noting that wind power has been, for the first time ever, the technology that contributed most to the annual electricity demand coverage (with a share of 21.1% compared to 18.1% in 2012), reaching the same level as nuclear which contributed 21% (22.1% in 2012)," REE stated. "Throughout 2013, the all-time highs of wind power production were exceeded. On February 6, wind power recorded a new maximum of instantaneous power with 17,056 MW at 3:49 pm (2.5% up on the previous record registered in April 2012), and that same day the all-time maximum for hourly energy was also exceeded reaching 16,918 MWh. Similarly, in January, February, March and November wind power generation was the technology that made the largest contribution towards the total energy production of the system."

Last October, Spain took its first tentative step into the offshore wind energy sector with the construction of the first turbine off the coast of the Canary Islands. Spanish energy company, Gamesa Corporation S.A. (MCE:GAM) (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain), commissioned the 5 MW turbine in Arinaga Quay, on the island of Gran Canaria. For additional information, see October 29, 2013, article - Spain Erects First Offshore Wind Turbine .

High rainfall recorded in 2013 resulted in a significant growth -- almost 76% - in hydroelectric generation over the previous year. Hydroelectric energy doubled its contribution to 14.4% in 2013, compared to 7.7% in 2012. Solar thermoelectric and photovoltaic power accounted for approximately 5% of total demand.

The share of renewable energy in the Spanish electricity mix jumped to 42.4% in 2013, 10.5% higher than in 2012, thanks largely to the hydroelectric surge. Conversely, significant decreases were recorded in production from combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants (-34.2%), coal-fired plants (-27.3%) and nuclear plants (-8.3%). At the end of last year, gas, coal and nuclear plants accounted for 9.6%, 14.6% and 21% of generation respectively.

With the large rise in renewable energy and a fall-off in fossil-fuel and nuclear generation, REE said that has reduced CO2 emissions from the electricity sector on the Spanish mainland to 61.4 million tons, 23.1% lower than in 2012.

Demand for electricity in mainland Spain stood at 246,166 gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2013, a fall of over 2% and its third annual decline. At the end of the year, the country had an installed capacity of 102,281 megawatts (MW), up 556 MW on 2012. The greatest increases were recorded by solar thermal, up 15% or 300 MW, and solar photovoltaic, up 3.3% or 140 MW.

It is unclear how renewable energy will grow in the coming year since the Spanish government suspended all feed-in tariffs (FiTs) for new renewable energy projects in January 2013 to reduce its financial burden.

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