Wind energy and the price of light

The final cost of the domestic electricity bill depends on three main components: regulated costs, the cost of electricity generation and taxes.

The regulated costs of the system are transportation, distribution, debt payment and interest on the tariff deficit, the incentive paid to large industries to reduce their electricity consumption if necessary (interruptibility), payments for capacity to conventional technologies, incentives for renewables and cogeneration, and extra costs for electricity generation in the islands, where it is more expensive to produce than in the Peninsula.

The cost of energy is set in a competitive market (pool) where the different energy sources offer electricity to meet the expected demand one day in advance. Since the cost of wind is zero, wind power producers can offer electricity at a lower price than others. For this reason, the price of the electricity market falls on windier days, displacing technologies with more expensive fuels. At the end of the month, an average is made with the prices of every day. The higher the proportion of wind energy consumed, the less Spanish people pay on their electricity bill. And vice versa.

The use of wind power instead of fossil fuels has meant savings for the system valued at 47,472 million euros in the period 2012-2024, due to the reduction in the price of the electricity market pool.