Relocation at Spain One Stop

Wind Power in Spain

Spain is one of the three world’s largest users of wind power with an installed capacity of 15,515 MW at January 2008. In 2007, wind farms accounted for almost 10% of the electricity generated in Spain.

On particular windy days, wind power generation has surpassed all other electricity sources in Spain, including nuclear. Wind farms are known as parques eólicos in Spain, eólico being an adjectival form of Aeolus. On April 18, 2008 the all time peak for wind generation was seen (10,879 MW, 32% of Spain's power requirement).

Wind power is an important energy source in Spain because the Spanish government has sanctioned a green energy approach to guarantee an increase in the country’s wind generation capacity, with aspirations to install a total of 20.1 GW of wind power by 2010. The approaches of energy deregulation that have been initiated in Spain recently are generating noteworthy developments within the energy sector. Multilateral cooperation for involvement in wind power production throughout Europe has created investment prospects for the industry and lower energy costs due to the efficiency of the renewable energy source and its domestic availability.

Increases in installed wind power capacity in recent years in Spain is shown in the Table below

The intended wind energy capacity to be installed in the autonomous regions by 2010-2011 consists of 20,000 MW.

Navarre

“Spain is currently undergoing a renewable-energy revolution, with the Navarre region set to be the first in Europe to be self-sufficient in renewable energy”. The US rating agency Standard & Poors, in a current investigation of standard of living in Europe, ranked Navarre, whose primary source of renewable energy is wind power, uppermost among the 17 autonomous regions of Spain. Navarre, Europe’s sixth largest producer of wind power, currently sustains approximately 70 percent of its electricity needs from renewable energy sources, wind farms being used most extensively, and has a 900-megawatt capacity of installed wind power, ranking it ahead of the UK, Sweden, and France.

Navarre lacks thermal, nuclear, coal, oil, gas fields, or hefty hydro-electric power stations, but does possess considerable renewable resources, which the Government of Navarre pursued to drop its foreign energy dependence. “Navarre’s economic success is a function of its small population (only 500,000 people), low unemployment, rich agricultural traditions, and most recently, a boom in rural tourism”.

Navarre was entirely reliant on imported energy until wind-power development and utilization began progress in 1996. Now, with its own renewable energy companies, such as Navarre Hydroelectric, projects are underway including the proposal of building the biggest offshore wind power production facility in the world in southwestern Spain on the spot of the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar. The location contains shallow water levels that would accommodate an offshore wind farm while taking advantage of the widespread winds to produce power sufficient for 750,000 homes. “However, the plan has enraged historians who claim that the area is a war grave and that any development of the area could destroy archaeological evidence of the historic battle”.

Galicia

Galicia currently leads wind power development in the autonomous regions for the third consecutive year with an increase in wind power of 264 MW, succeeding Castilla La Mancha, which exceeded the development goal of 1000 MW, and followed by Aragon, Navarre, and Castile-Leon, and the remaining autonomous regions. Castilla Leon and La Rioja have initiated wind energy production, and the north-eastern area of Soria also holds the capacity to be an efficient producer; the possession of workable resources for wind power development is also represented in the Cantabrian, eastern and south-eastern coasts