New report shows that wind energy was Spain’s top source of electricity in 2013
Red Eléctrica de España (REE) released a preliminary report showing that for the first time ever wind power contributed the most to the annual electricity demand. The report showed that wind turbines met 21.1% of electricity demand, while the region's fleet of nuclear reactors provided 21% of power.
In 2013 53,926 gigawatt hours of electricity were generated by wind farms, which is an increase of 12% on 2012. High levels of rainfall meant hydroelectric power output was 16% higher than the historical average, climbing to 32,205GWh. An increase in wind power capacity of 173MW together with an increase in solar PV capacity of 140MW and solar thermal capacity of 300MW meant that renewables represented 49.1% of total installed power capacity by the end of 2013.
On the flip side, the figures show that power output from combined cycle gas plants fell 34.2% year-on-year, coal-fired plants saw generation fall 27.3%, and nuclear power output fell 8.3%.