For the first time wind power exceeds 5,000 GWh monthly power generation

In total, it reached 5,362 GWh, according to provisional data from Red Eléctrica de España (REE), which is more than the total consumed by of those 17 million Spanish homes in April.

Madrid, 30 April 2012.- In April wind energy broke its monthly generation record, producing for the first time in its history more than 5,000 GWh in one month. In total, it reached 5,362 GWh, according to provisional data from Red Eléctrica de España (REE), which is more than the total consumed by of those 17 million Spanish homes in April. In addition, wind energy covered 25.7% of demand and was the second technology in the system following nuclear, which produced only 62 GWh more.

In addition, the production of wind energy on 18 April reached new maximums of instantaneous power, hourly power and daily power. The maximum instantaneous power registered at 16:41 hours, with 16,636 MW. The maximum hourly and daily power were 16,455 MWh and 334,850 MWh, respectively. The record coverage of demand with wind energy, of 61.06%, took place at 1:37 hours on 19 April.

Thanks to the development of wind energy, which displaces more expensive technologies that use fossil fuels in the energy market, the transfer of profits abroad has been avoided to the value of 270 million euros in the month of April, due to the importation of fossil fuels and CO2 emissions avoided. In total, wind energy prevented the emission of 1.98 million tons of CO2 in April, which is the equivalent of burning 4.5 million barrels of petrol, the equivalent of planting 39.6 million trees.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has recently indicated that, if the price of petrol continues to rise, the world will return to recession. To fight against this threat and increase energy security, it affirms that it is necessary to reduce dependence on imports of petrol and natural gas, improve energy efficiency and increase the use of low carbon energies. In 2012, the Agency anticipated that the EU would spend 500 billion dollars (378 billion euros) on petrol imports. Spain spent 49,194 million euros last year on purchasing fossil fuels, 16.6% more (0.7% of GDP) than in 2010.

For wind energy to continue to develop and continue to contribute to reducing Spain’s energy dependence and, therefore, to reducing the current account deficit, it is necessary for the Government to end the moratorium imposed by Royal Decree-Law 1/2012 and establish a new regulatory framework that accounts for the differential characteristics and maturity of the sector. To do this, the Spanish Wind Energy Association (AEE) is reaching out to the Government to work together on a new framework that accounts for Spain”™s difficult economic situation and that guarantees the survival of wind energy and the more than 30,000 jobs in the sector.

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