Wind power was Spain's top source of electricity in 2013

[n2doc]

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."


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http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/06/wind-power-spain-electricity-2013

[vi5]

1. My wife is originally from Poland

We went back there this summer and I was amazed at how many active windmills there were throughout the country. And we were out in the countryside. I know a lot of what prevents it here is NIMBYism, but personally I thought they were quite visually striking and didn't once detract from the beauty and history of the locale.

[Iterate]

2. aae(Asociación Empresarial Eólica) - Spanish wind association site and data

Site (en) http://www.aeeolica.org/en/

Wind Power 13. All the data, analysis and statistics of the wind sector -26\11\2013 Yearbook

http://www.aeeolica.org/en/new/wind-power-13-all-the-data-analysis-and-statistics-of-the-wind-sector/
Yearbook PDF direct - http://www.aeeolica.org/uploads/Wind_Power_2013_AEE.pdf

There's no raw data there that I know of, but plenty of charts and breakdowns, current at least to end of 2012. Also political commentary from the wind association's POV.

[BlueStreak]

3. Does anybody know the state of the power grid in Europs?

Is it all interconnected? The larger the geography that is interconnected, the better the renewables work.

[Iterate]

4. Yes interconnected, but not ideally so yet.

Last edited Mon Jan 6, 2014, 02:51 PM - Edit history (1)

Historically, there has been relatively little international trading -more as a matter of convenience or profit for the utilities. People also forget that the expansion of the EU infrastructure doesn't happen immediately or even necessarily smoothly, and that more than a few nations have been members for less than 10 years.

Also, other types of projects had priority -but that's changing.



On edit, this isn't the latest and greatest ENTSO-E grid map, but will do as a sketch. Notice some political and historical artifacts though, such as the dominant position of Paris in the French infrastructure, the grid cluster for hydro in the Alps, the interconnection of former Soviet-bloc nations. NW German connections are still stronger to the west, and eastern German states still stronger to the east and south. There are new HV lines in place, or nearly in place, from northern Germany to Austria and the Czech Republic -23 years after the cold war ended.

[hunter]

5. It seems to be missing the 2000MW HVDC connection between England and France...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HVDC_Cross-Channel

[hunter]

6. ... in January, February, March and November the rain fell. The wind blew.

... the rest of the year has different numbers.

If you want to live in a temporary future where natural gas picks up the slack for wind and solar, fine, this is it. A comfortable place for natural gas in Spain's future is assured. The power mix of my power utility here in California is very similar to Spain's; renewable, nuclear, with natural gas picking up the slack. In drought years (the one we're in is a record-smasher) the capacity of hydropower is much reduced, and natural gas fills in. It's expensive electricity too compared to coal-burning America.

Okay Spain, so now the alternative energy industry is happy, and the natural gas industry is happy. But the fundamental environmental problems of our industrial "consumer" society are in no way addressed. I'd say the same about France's smug commitment to nuclear power. I'd say the same if somebody builds a working fusion plant tomorrow.

An analogy to my thinking would be falling out of an airplane. We're at terminal velocity, diving like a bullet is over 200 mph. Spread eagle, it would still over 100. Even with a parachute suit, wings stretched between our wrists and our ankles, we are still not likely to survive our collision with the earth unless we are lucky, well-prepared, and manage to hit a forgiving surface.

This civilization is still in the "bullet" position. Our industry got us into this mess. More industry, or different industry (even pretty wind turbines with flowers!) won't take us to a place of actual sustainability.

Selling large scale solar or wind power farms really isn't much different than selling natural gas or nuclear power or clean coal. Electric cars will reduce some problems, increase others.

What needs most doing is changing our core concepts of "Economic Productivity." What we now call productivity isn't productive at all, in fact it is destroying the natural environment our species was born into, and it is very damaging to the human spirit.

In my utopia people are happy, they don't have more than one or two kids on average, they have good food, fine medical care, and pleasant secure homes, and lots of leisure time spent in activities that actually enhance the both the natural and social environment. Throw away the cars and the wars and the "consumer" mentality and it won't really matter much how we keep the lights on at home.

[Iterate]

7. Renewable Energy Supplied 42.4% Of Spain's Power In 2013

Renewable Energy Supplied 42.4% Of Spain's Power In 2013

Renewable energy provided 42.4% of the electricity demand in Spain this year, 10.5 percentage points higher than in 2012.

According to figures released by Red Eléctrica in its Spanish Electricity System Preliminary Report 2013; wind power contributed most to the annual electricity demand coverage with a share of 21.1%. This was 3 percent higher than in 2012 and just above nuclear power electricity generation.
...
Gross demand for electricity this year was 246,166 GWh, 2.3% lower than during 2012.
http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=4099

In 2001, fossil fuels accounted for over 50%. I don't yet what it will turn out to have been this last year, but from the article it looks to be ~25% and dropping. In 2001, wind and solar were listed under "Other" in most databases.

They're just coming out of a four-year up and down recession and restructuring. They've made mistakes, but they've also learned from it, and quickly. It's not like they're standing still on other fronts -they're improving the rail network too, even though it's already one of the best in the world.

So I don't know what you expect out of people. It sounds like they're doing everything necessary to accomplish just what you said in your last paragraph. Plus, let's not forget who we're talking about -still one of the most laid-back countries around, land of the three hour meal.

[hunter]

8. You can't extrapolate out to negligible fossil fuel use.

Once you pass the level at which hydro-power can modulate output, storage becomes very, very expensive.

Fossil fuels fill the gaps when the sun's not shining, the wind's not blowing, and the rain's not falling.

And then there is the problem of cars and trucks... Nobody is even close to dealing with that. How many people are ever going to be able to afford solar powered cars with lithium batteries.

I'm not picking on Spain at all. Maybe they'll be the ones who figure out how to build a comfortable, truly sustainable society.

The "powerful" and "developing" nations of the international economy are not headed in that direction. They are simply burning more coal, or are importing more stuff from nations that are burning more coal. (Instead of making steel for our own bridges here in the U.S.A., we import it from China.)

I wish I knew what to do. I have a pretty good idea what not to do, and I don't suffer any illusions that alternative energy systems will replace fossil fuels.

A society powered entirely by the wind and sun and rain will not in any way resemble our current industrial consumer society, and it's misleading to sell alternative energy systems as some kind of environmentally sound substitute for fossil fuels or nuclear power.

[Iterate]

9. I don't think we're in that much disagreement,

but we'll have to pick it up later when it isn't the middle of the night. Maybe tomorrow. Or today I guess, getting zoooey.

[Iterate]

10. I'm not as worried about that last 5%.

It's years away, and there seem to be many ways of dealing with it. I'm more concerned right now about how the same companies we love to hate and that are beginning to get squeezed out are signing deals to build the same failed infrastructure on other continents. It's like chasing rats out of your house, being duly pleased, then realizing they just went to the neighbors. Still, better to chase then than not.

I get what you mean (I think) about the futility of building a carbon-free grid, then dying off a bit less quickly because the other problems weren't addressed. In that way the US is worse off than anyone else -farther to go to get to zero. Even to suggest any limit of any kind always gets such an aggressive reaction, but there has to be some kind of feedback or boundary to what individuals are allowed. We're not spoiled children after all.

One thing I've though of that will never get anywhere would be a fixed-amount bond, or fund, for precinct level, or pooled county-level projects at the largest, where people could get together with neighbors, compare usage, and pick something they could do locally. There's feedback in that process, and a limit. Then let them choose how much energy they want to use and build. I don't think it would take long for them to realize just how expensive (energy-wise) that developer's new subdivision and big-box complex really is.