http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/06/wind-power-spain-electricity-2013
[image and links in on-line article]
Wind power was Spain's top source of electricity in 2013
Surge in wind power and hydropower drives emissions down by more than 23%
Remarkable new figures from Spain's grid operator have revealed that
greenhouse gas emissions from the country's power sector are likely to
have fallen 23.1% last year, as power generation from wind farms and
hydroelectric plants soared.
Red Eléctrica de España (REE) released a preliminary report on the
country's power system late last month, revealing that for "the first
time ever, [wind power] contributed most to the annual electricity
demand coverage". According to the figures, wind turbines met 21.1% of
electricity demand on the Spanish peninsular, narrowly beating the
region's fleet of nuclear reactors, which provided 21% of power.
In total, wind farms are estimated to have generated 53,926 gigawatt
hours of electricity, up 12% on 2012, while high levels of rainfall
meant hydroelectric power output was 16% higher than the historical
average, climbing to 32,205GWh.
"Throughout 2013, the all-time highs of wind power production were
exceeded," the report stated. "On 6 February, wind power recorded a new
maximum of instantaneous power with 17,056MW at 3:49 pm (2.5 per cent up
on the previous record registered in April 2012), and that same day the
all-time maximum for hourly energy was also exceeded reaching 16,918MWh.
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."
An increase in wind power capacity of 173MW coupled with an increase in
solar PV capacity of 140MW and solar thermal capacity of 300MW meant
that by the end of the year renewables represented 49.1% of total
installed power capacity on the Spanish peninsula.
In contrast, the preliminary figures show that power output from
combined cycle gas plants fell 34.2% year-on-year, coal-fired plants saw
generation fall 27.3%, and nuclear power output fell 8.3%.
The dramatic shift towards renewable generation coupled with a fall in
overall power demand of 2.1% led to a similarly drastic reductions in
emissions from the peninsular's power sector. "The increased weight of
renewable energy in the generation mix structure of 2013 compared to the
previous year has reduced CO2 emissions of the electricity sector on the
Spanish peninsula to 61.4 million tonnes, 23.1% lower than in 2012," the
report stated.
The study follows news last year that Portugal had successfully
generated over 70% of its power from renewables during the first quarter
of the year, driven by a surge in wind and hydro power output.
The latest figures are likely to be seized upon by renewable energy
firms as further evidence that the sector can provide a high proportion
of power to a modern economy without risk of blackouts.
[The preliminary report referenced in the article can be found at:
http://www.ree.es/sites/default/files/downloadable/preliminary_report_2013.pdf
(english version)]
--
Darryl McMahon
Failure is not an option;
it's just another word for learning and practice.
_______________________________________________
Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list
Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org
http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
