By Victor Mallet and Mark Mulligan in Madrid
Published: March 5 2009 22:27 | Last updated: March 5 2009 22:27
Spain’s windmills produced a record amount of electricity on Thursday, underlining the growing importance of renewable energy to Europe and the challenges of matching new and sometimes erratic power sources to the continent’s demand.
At 11.09am, the windmills were producing 11,203MW – the highest output ever – equivalent to 29.5 per cent of Spanish demand at that time, according to Red Eléctrica, the national grid operator. For much of the day, wind was Spain’s single largest source of electricity. Before dawn, when demand was low, wind turbines contributed up to 42 per cent of electricity supply.
Spanish investment in subsidised wind energy has been so intense – hilltop ranks of huge white windmills can be seen across the country – that Red Eléctrica has been forced at times to shut some of the turbines because the grid can’t cope with the excess supply.
“Wind is no longer a marginal supplier for us,” Luis Atienza, Red Eléctrica’s chief executive, said recently in one of its control rooms in Madrid, eyeing huge, illuminated displays showing power flows and wind speeds. Over the year, wind already supplies about 12 per cent of Spain’s electricity, more than hydropower.
“It’s going to catch coal in the next few years and it represents a special challenge,” he said, referring to the difficulty of reducing the output of coal and other thermal power stations to compensate for strong winds at night when demand is low. “Renewables are very demanding in terms of networks,” he said.
Iberdrola of Spain, the world’s biggest wind energy generator by installed capacity, said on Thursday that this winter had been particularly blustery, contributing to a 37 per cent increase in the company’s domestic electricity production from wind.
“Wind is not only a good clean alternative,” it said, “but is getting close to becoming competitive with conventional energy sources in terms of production costs.”
The European Wind Energy Association said that in 2008 more wind power capacity was installed in the European Union than any other power source. Of the 23,851MW of new EU capacity, 36 per cent was wind, 29 per cent gas and 18 per cent solar photovoltaic cells.
By year-end, Spain expects to be producing almost a quarter of its electricity from renewable sources.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
9 comments:
"Over the year, wind already supplies about 12 per cent of Spain’s electricity, more than hydropower."
After reading this post I immediately thought of the big wind storm we had a couple months ago. I'm not surprised about the amount of energy that wind can produce. I'm glad that Spain has acknowledged the capabilities natural resources can bring.
But like everything else, these windmills (and other energy sources) can bring controversy and possibly a big mess. If Spain wants to continue to create windmills, they'll need more and more land. Correct? Could the government eventually want to buy land off of its owners for the energy space? Farmers/landowners may go up in flames over who has the right to do what with the land - its their business, the means for production, and maybe all that they know (to farm).
Wind energy has minimal long-term effects, and when compared to other upcoming experimental sources such as nuclear power and hydrocells I dont think we can do any better than using natural wind in its basic form. Seeing as I dont see a long term side-effect of this usage, Id support Spains development of more widespread wind mill development.
I think it's great that Spain has made a large investment in wind power and that it is paying off for them. I feel like the long term after effects couldn't be any worse than those of an energy crisis or a continued dependence on petroleum as our energy source. I must admit that I was a little surprised by the article and Spain's initiative to do this--so far in my time in Alicante, I hadn't really observed that many environmental precautions. Maybe I was looking at too micro a scale, like the absence of individual recycling, because it seems that Spain is actually doing quite a lot in terms of conservation and alternative energy forms.
I've always thought that Spain did not really care much about the environment and were only concerned about conservation because energy costs are so high. I guess I'm really only speaking of my experience in Alicante. It's awesome that Spain is dedicated to investing in alternative sources of energy. I'm not sure who Filbert127 is. I want to meet him.
Obviously, windmills have no negative effects on the enviroment, so I support Spain's efforts. I'd like to know the cost of installing each individual windmill. I've walked up to them and they're massive.
I think it is really incredible that Spain has gone to such an extent to not only investigate more sustainable energy alternatives but to also find the funds to buy and install these windmills. If I'm not mistaken, the cost of these enormous wind turbines are based somewhere around 2 million dollars. It seems it will only continue to be more and more beneficial to have these alternative energy supplies as the cost of fuel rises, and the supply declines. Likewise, wind is such an easy alternative to come by and concluding from the erratic weather patterns Spain experienced earlier this year due to a change in the global climate maybe Spain will become increasingly windier.
Not much to say than other, yeah, I enjoy good clean fun. There's this great scene in the movie 28 Days Later when the four survivors that found each other in an apocalyptic, zombie-infected London try to make it across the country in a car, where they struggle to search for and siphon gas, they pass green hills with windmills still twirling.
For such a harmless, almost cohabiting form of energy, if the stats show no reason to stop, then Spain should lead the way and show how it's done.
After reading this post, I was honestly surprised. I thought that Spain was concerned with using alternative energy sources solely for the purpose of saving money, not for environmental concerns. Living in the homestay I notice how conscious they are of turning the lights off when not using them and not taking long showers, but they rarely recycle materials such as plastic, paper, etc. I have realized this is because the costs of electricity and water are so high, and it is not because they are concerned about the environment. After reading this article it made me feel differently and think that Spain is actually starting to be more conscious of the environment. I think that it is amazing that Spain is making such a great effort to use alternative energy sources and found some of the statistics in this article to be really impressive.
That is fantastic. The fact that wind is going to catch up to the coal supplier is powerful. Its evidence that Spain is an innovator. The petroleum pushing U.S should watch and learn from Spain's push for alternative sources. By the year's end 1/4 of Spain's energy will come from renewable sources and the U.S. is no where close to those advances.
The only foreseeable problem is where will the government put these turbines. How much land will the government need if they hope to make wind
This article is amazing. It reestablishes my faith in renewable energy, it helps that amongst all the negativity (a.k.a. the world will cease to exist and we’re all doomed and the destruction of the planet is completely our own fault), that there are these groups out in the world that are making enormous strides towards a healthier, more environmentally conscience community.
I noticed Amy’s comment, and I can relate since that is how my views about how environmentally concerned Spain is have flip flopped around during my time spent here. At first I thought Spain was much more environmentally aware that the U.S., partly because I just always thought all the countries in the world were more environmentally conscience that the U.S. since we are the number one polluter, and partly because of the intense focus on using less water, shutting off the lights, using less heat, energy, etc. Then I was confused because of the lack of recycling, which in my household in the States is very important; we recycle everything paper and plastic and glass where I live. I heard from various Spaniards that it wasn’t that Spain was focusing on how saving energy affected the environment but how it affected their wallets. Use less energy = pay less dinero. So then I thought Spain was more focused on saving money. Now I’m back to my original view.
It’s amazing the advances that have been made using wind energy. It astonishing that perhaps by the end of the year, Spain “expects to be producing almost a quarter of its electricity from renewable sources”, and that Spain has actually had to shut down windmills due to overwhelming the electric grid. It’s also interesting to see that wind production is also in true competition with old school energy production. I only wish that the U.S. was on the same track, whether it was for saving money or truly caring about the planet, either one is good as long as it produces positive change.
I don't like to think about how much land these wind production companies will need inorder to produce enough power for the world, but hopefully in addition with other environmentally safe methods of energy production, such as using water, the impact on the forest and natural open areas will be minimal.
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