the wind reigns again in the electricity sector in Spain. Wind farms are now largest source of electricity generation It has replaced nuclear power plants (traditional leaders in production) and natural gas plants (last year) in the Spanish market, according to records of Red Eléctrica de España (REE), the manager of the national electricity system.
Wind energy has risen to the generation leadership for the third time in a decade, although it has always been second on the podium in the last decade. For the first time in history, wind energy became the main production technology in 2013; It was not repeated until 2021, when the energy crisis began; and will do so again in 2023, which has become a record year for renewable energy as, for the first time, wind, solar and hydropower generate more than half of all the country’s electricity.
REE, wind installations 63,700 gigawatt hours (GWh) for this year as a whole, it concentrates around 24% of production and is ahead of nuclear power plants (20%) and gas plants (17%). The technology that will record the biggest increase in production will be solar photovoltaics, which will exceed 37 thousand GWh with an increase of 34 percent and become the fourth largest production source with a share of 14 percent.
Low delivery rate
Spain has begun large-scale deployment of new renewable plants in recent years, and the green revolution is causing a shock to the country’s electricity production. The expansion of wind energy has been steady over the last six yearsAfter the absolute pause between 2014 and 2017 due to the moratorium decision of the Mariano Rajoy Government.
However, since then Wind Cooperation (AEE), The sector’s employers’ association warns of a slowdown in the commissioning of new plants in 2023, warning that the pace of installation is not sufficient to meet the green targets set by Spain for 2030. During 2022, approximately 1,600 megawatts (MW) of new wind energy have been brought online, but employers expect only about 600 MW to come online this year.
“Due to the speed of administrative procedures and pending projects, between 2,000 and 3,000 MW of capacity is expected to come into operation every year. Approximately 10,000 MW between now and 2026,” predicted AEE general manager Juan Virgilio Márquez. The problem is to achieve the new power indicated by the Integrated National Plan. According to the government’s roadmap to 2030, around 5,500 MW will need to be activated every year for the rest of the decade. The administrator’s plan calls for reaching 63,000 MW of wind energy in 2030, or about 33,000 new MW in five years.
“Processing permits for new facilities should be expedited to ensure stability and prevent displacement. In his meeting with the media, Márquez emphasized the need for more speed, as the pace of deployment was much slower than required. “We have a responsibility to be the biggest technology in the electricity mix by 2030. If wind power doesn’t fit, neither will Spain.”
Economic impact
The wind sector contributed €5,896 million to Spain’s GDP in 2022. by 0.5% Macroeconomic Impact Study Spanish Wind SectorPrepared by Deloitte for the Wind Collaboration. Specifically, the sector contributed 4 billion 12 million euros directly and 1 billion 883 million euros indirectly last year.
The sector employed 39,015 people (18,278 direct jobs and 20,737 indirect jobs), an increase of 14% compared to the previous year, and export activity amounted to 2,512 million Euros (1,598 million goods and services and 914 million electricity sales). outside). In 2022 Spain was the world’s fifth gross exporter of wind turbinesIt ranks behind Germany, Denmark, China and India. Additionally, the use of wind energy instead of fossil fuels saved Spanish consumers 7,358 million euros (31.25 euros per MWh) in 2022 due to the price drop in the electricity market.