Renewable Energy

Wind farms in Tarifa, naturally harnessed power for all generations. © Michelle Chaplow
Wind farms in Tarifa, naturally harnessed power for all generations.

Sustainable Andalucia – where green is number one!

Thanks to its geographic location and climate, Andalucia is an ideal area for generating renewable energy from windmills, photovoltaic panels and solar panels, thermoelectric and hydraulic plants and biomass and bio fuels.

According to information provided by the regional government’s “Andalusian Energy Agency” (Agencia Andaluza de la Energía), this 31.8 percent of this region’s energy will come from renewable energy in 2013. That is equivalent to 90% of home energy consumption in the south of Spain.

This is the main objective of the Andalucian Sustainable Energy Plan (Plan Andaluz de Sostenibilidad Energética, Pasener 2007-2013) and it will also translate into more than 100,000 jobs in the renewable energy sector. To make this a reality, the plan calls for numerous programs and measures to aid citizens, companies, government agencies and basic infrastructure organisations to install renewable energy. This includes acquisition of hybrid vehicles and the substitution of home appliances and energy efficient machinery.

As of May 2009, Andalucia is leading the growth of the wind energy sector in Spain for the second year in a row with 2,115 megawatts working thanks to different wind farms distributed throughout the south of Spain:
Cádiz: 58 wind farms
Málaga: 14 wind farms
Almería: 13 wind farms
Granada: 10 wind farms
Huelva: 3 wind farms
Sevilla: 2 wind farms
Jaén: 1 wind farm

The development of this source of renewable energy has given rise to a strong renewable energy sector throughout Andalucia, and this includes manufacturers who produce aero generator towers in Linares (Jaén) and related manufacturing in Marquesado de Zenete (Granada).

In fact, the two renewable energy sectors that have experienced the greatest growth in the south of Spain during recent years are wind and photovoltaic energy.

 

 

Sustainable Companies

The hotel industry is one where many companies are working to incorporate renewable energy. Every day more hotels in southern Spain install renewable energy sources based on solar panels, light sensors or biomass tanks. Many are now substituting mercury lights with sodium vapour lights. One example is the Grupo El Fuerte hotels, which, in 2009, added more solar panels to their Hotel Grazalema.

According to an organisation called APREAN (Association of Promotors and Producers of Renewable Energies in Andalucia – in Spanish: Asociación de Promotores y Productores de Energías Renovables de Andalucía), Andalucia is one European regions with more potential growth in the renewable energy sector. At this time therefore, renewable energy is one of the pillars of Andalucia’s model for economic change. This is a new model based on innovative, sustainable, high tech industry that can compete at the international level.