Green Energy - The story of
wind farms in Spain
Between 2004 and 2011, two-
thirds of the current wind capacity
was installed.
Thanks to public money and
premiums, Spain was at the top
of the league regarding wind
technology.
But even those passionate about
renewable energy recognise that
a lot of the growth took place
in a climate of speculation and
haphazard development.
In 2011, when Mariano Rajoy’s
Popular Party took power, there
was a freeze on green energy. In
2008, the industry employed
more than 40,000 people.
Today, it employs half that
figure.
While the most ambitious
climate change agreement in
history was being signed in Paris
in 2015, wind power was entering
its darkest hour in Spain.
There was zero increase in
capacity, allowing India to
overtake and push Spain into fifth
place – after China, America and
Germany.
And if in 2013 wind energy
was the top form of generation
technology in Spain, 2015 saw it
take third place behind nuclear
and coal.
Recently, the sector has been
on the move again thanks to
new government auctions for
renewable energy installation.
One of the most frequent
criticisms levelled against green
energy is that surplus energy
cannot be stored.
“It is a lie,” says Monica Aguado,
who holds a PhD in industrial
engineering and lectures at
Navarre University while also
heading an experimental micro-
grid that is being used to control
the electricity supply to the
CENER lab from sun and wind.