Claire Wilson
RENEWABLE energy provided 42.4% of the electricity demand in Spain this year, 10.5 percentage points higher than in 2012.
Wind power contributed most to the annual electricity demand coverage with a share of 21.1%. This was 3% higher than in 2012 and just above nuclear power electricity generation.
Other wind related records tumbled this year, included maximum availability of instantaneous power on February 6 (17,056 MW), according to figures released by Red Eléctrica in its Spanish Electricity System Preliminary Report 2013.
This year saw 173 MW of wind power capacity installed in Spain and 440 MW of solar energy technologies – 140 MW of solar PV and 300 MW of solar thermoelectric. With these sources incorporated, renewables now represent 49.1% of the total installed power capacity on the Spanish peninsula.
Gross demand for electricity this year was 246,166 GWh, 2.3% lower than during 2012.
Combined cycle power generation’s share dropped to 9.6% this year (down from 14.1%) coal-fired power generation also lost ground – from 19.3% in 2012 to 14.6% this year.
747 km of new transmission lines were installed in 2013 and the national transmission grid now totals 42,116 km of transmission infrastructure.
I can believe this having seen how many wind turbines they have. The only problem is that you do not seem to have any rights where they want to put these things. There is a place I know of where they have put hundreds of these up and they don’t care about the residents. Their property values have shrunk and no recompense offered. It is a shame it is looking like they are going to tax solar power, that seems to go against what the world leaders are telling us. I think most of the Governments are only interested in tax.