Wind energy and its advantages
What is Wind Energy?
Wind energy is the most mature and developed renewable energy. It generates electricity by way of the strength of the wind using the kinetic energy produced by air currents. It is a clean, inexhaustible source of energy which reduces the emission of greenhouse gases and preserve the environment.
Wind energy has been used since antiquity to move sail-powered boats or drive windmill machinery by moving their blades. Since the early 20th century energy has been produced by way of wind generators. Wind energy moves a propeller and, by way of a mechanical system, it turns the rotor of a generator which produces electrical energy.
Wind generators are usually grouped into facilities called wind farms with a view to achieving a better use of the energy which reduces their environmental impact.
Advantages of wind energy
WIND POWER AS A STRATEGIC COMMITMENT FOR SPAIN
- Wind energy is an inexhaustible and homegrown source of energy that supplied electricity to 24% of Spain in 2025 → electricity equivalent to around 16 million homes.
- The 31,679 MW of wind power installed in Spain are distributed around 1,412 wind farms in 868 municipalities. → It is a driving force in the rural communities in which it is installed.
- Wind power was the first technology in the 2025 peninsular´s energy mix and the second of capacity installed → it is a key technology in our energy mix.
- Spain is one of the first countries in the world to integrate wind power into the grid → around 13,800 MW of wind power played a part in the adjustment services of the electricity system.
- Spain ranks sixth in the world in terms of wind power installed, after China, the United States, Germany, India and Brazil, and second in Europe.
- The wind energy sector is key to meeting the European target of 42.5% of energy consumption from renewable sources by 2030.
WIND ENERGY AS A SOURCE OF EMPLOYMENT AND A ROBUST INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
- 37,070 people work in the sector in Spain → Wind energy creates five times more jobs than conventional technologies.
- Jobs in the wind power sector are of high quality and highly stable → of the 37,070 jobs in Spain, 70% are skilled positions
- Wind employment in Spain will double by 2030 and will exceed 67,000 workers
- The Spanish wind energy sector has a strong industrial framework with pioneering companies and global leaders → The wind power industry in Spain has more than 280 manufacturing locations in 16 of 17 regions.
WIND POWER AS AN ECONOMIC BOOST FOR THE COUNTRY
- Wind energy represents 0.25% of Spanish GDP.
- The wind power industry exports technology worth around 1,953.2 million euros per year.
- The wind power sector has a robust chain of value that has led Spain to become the fourth largest exporter of wind turbine generators in the world.
- Spain is the sixth country in the world and the third in Europe in terms of wind power patents: the sector invests around 85.4 million euros per year in R&D. Since 2004, more than 1,400 Spanish patents related to wind technology have been published.
WIND ENERGY AS A GUARANTEE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
- Wind power does not pollute and curbs depletion of fossil fuels, helping to slow climate change → wind power avoids the import of 11.3 million tonnes of oil equivalent (TOE)
- It is a leading technology in terms of preventing CO2 emissions → Wind power avoided the emission of 30.8 million tonnes of CO2
WIND POWER AS A SOURCE OF CHEAP ENERGY
- Lower electricity prices as a result of the displacement of more expensive combustion technologies on the market
The reducing effect of wind energy from 2021 to 2024 has been very significant.
Over the past ten years, thanks to wind power, the average annual price of the Spanish electricity market has been €5 to €31/MWh lower than it would have been if electricity had been generated in fossil fuel power plants.
In 2024, with wholesale electricity prices 28% lower than in 2023, the savings amounted to €19.88/MWh. In this way, wind generation allowed Spanish consumers to save €4,641 million in 2024. Since 2012, the total savings for the system have reached €47,472 million.