For individuals, governments and companies committed to the idea of powering our technological age with clean, renewable energy, wind and solar power are a natural fit. Wind-powered technology has matured over the past two decades, driving down costs and driving up efficiency.
Spain has become a wind-energy powerhouse. With 9,000 megawatts of installed capacity, Spain ranked second in the world in 2005 in total installed capacity, behind Germany (16,000 megawatts) and ahead of the United States (6,500 megawatts).
Furthermore, Spanish companies, both turbine manufacturers and wind-farm operators, are among the leaders in the global wind-power market. Some examples are Gamesa Eólica (world's second largest turbine manufacturer), Iberdrola (world's largest wind-farm owner and operator) and Acciona Energía (world's largest wind-farm builder and developer).
What's more, from the dense industrial base already present in Spain, many companies have sprung up to develop technologies befitting the needs of the wind industry, in fields such as composites, steel, electrical components, and wind-data loggers.
With 30 percent annual growth in the sector, and a clear commitment from the Spanish government to encourage private investment, technological advances, and grid development, Spain is poised to continue this trend toward powering its economic and technological growth with the strong winds that sweep over the country's mountains and plains.
Wind Power
Wind power is an important energy source in Spain because the Spanish government has sanctioned a green energy approach to guarantee an increase in the country's wind generation capacity, with aspirations to produce 2.1GW of wind power by 2010. The approaches of energy deregulation that have been initiated in Spain recently are generating noteworthy developments within the energy sector. Multilateral cooperation for involvement in wind power production throughout Europe has created investment prospects for the industry and lower energy costs due to the efficiency of the renewable energy source and its domestic availability. "In terms of installed capacity by the end of the decade, attention should be drawn to the difference between the objectives set by the autonomous regions and those set by the central government".
A new Electricity Act established a "Special Regime" for renewables, including wind, with guaranteed access to the grid and a premium payment for generated power. A series of subsequent adaptations to the regulatory framework has fine-tuned the payment mechanism, linking it more closely to the wholesale electricity trading.
Wind energy in Spain has now entered a dynamic phase where the serious challenges that arise when wind energy becomes one of the main energy supply technologies need to be met. Current policy direction signals how an intermittent power source can be integrated into the electricity market in significant quantities. Predictability is the key to address intermittency at large penetration levels.
To move towards 15 percent of the country's power from wind energy will require a strategic grid framework. According to EWEA, this is currently being developed in partnership with the transmission operators, utilities, wind players and regional governments.
Solar Energy
Since September, 2006, all new buildings in Spain have to have solar panels incorporated into their plans. This means new homes have to be equipped with solar panels to provide between 30 and 70 percent of their hot water, depending on where the building is located and on its expected water usage.
New non-residential buildings, such as shopping centres and hospitals, now have to have photovoltaic panels to generate a proportion of their electricity.
Solar power has not yet taken off in Spain, largely because subsidies have been directed at wind energy, and it provided a negligible amount of the country's electricity in 2005.
Other measures in the new building code enforce the use of better insulation, improve the maintenance of heating and cooling systems and increase the use of natural light.
The new standards will bring energy savings of 30 to 40 percent for each building and a reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy consumption of 40 to 55 percent, according to the government.
Europe's first commercial concentrating solar power plant was inaugurated near the sunny southern Spanish city of Seville.
The 11 megawatt, MW, plant was inaugurated in the presence of the heads of the regional government of Andalucia and executives of the solar company Abengoa, whose parent company, Solucar, built the power plant.
The power plant in the municipality of Sanlucar la Mayor, 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of Seville, took more than four years to build, from July 1, 2001 to December 31, 2005.
Known as PS10, the project produces electricity with 624 large movable mirrors called heliostats.
Each of the mirrors has a surface measuring 120 square meters (1,290 square feet) that concentrates the Sun's rays to the top of a 115 meter (377 foot) high tower where a solar receiver and a steam turbine are located. The turbine drives a generator, producing electricity.
PS10 is the first of a set of solar electric power generation plants to be constructed in the same area that will total more than 300 MW by 2013. Power generation will be accomplished using a variety of technologies.
The first two power plants to be brought into operation at Sanlucar la Mayor are the PS10, the world's first tower technology solar thermoelectric power plant constructed for commercial operation, and Sevilla PV, the largest low concentration system photovoltaic plant in Europe.
When completed in the year 2013, the Sanlucar la Mayor Solar Platform will produce enough energy to cover the consumption of some 180,000 homes, equivalent to the needs of the city of Seville, using the concentrating solar power plant and other technologies.
Concentrating solar power plants have few environmental impacts other than land use. They produce no environmental contaminants or greenhouse gases.
When complete, the Sanlucar la Mayor Solar Platform will prevent the emission of more than 600,000 metric tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. These emissions would have resulted from burning fossil fuels to supply electricity to the 180,000 homes that will be served by the Solar Platform.
