POWER June 2011 - 32

POWER POLICY
National energy plans drawn up before
the recession call for substantial increases
in total generation (72 TWh between 2008
and 2016) to fuel future growth, including
further ramping up of gas power by 42 TWh
and wind power by 33 TWh, but cutting coalfired
generation by 23 TWh and oil by 10
TWh. An increase of nuclear power is also
foreseen-but only through uprates.
Spain has already made great strides in
adding new capacity. The International Energy
Agency (IEA) reported that from 2001 to
2008, total capacity increased by 87%-one
of the largest hikes for a member country. As
of 2010, about 95% (97,447 MW) of capacity
was installed in the peninsular system and
the rest, 5,639 MW, was installed in other
territories, including the Canary Islands and
Balearic Islands.
The Renewable Future
Because of its size and geography, Spain's
climate varies substantially by region (see a
map of all of Spain's power plants at http://bit
.ly/hiFN3h). And climate has influenced its
choice of renewables.
Hydro. About 1,200 hydro plants with a
total installed capacity of 18.97 GW have
been built in Spain, 20 of which are 200 MW
or larger, and at least 2,400 MW of which
is pumped storage (Figure 2). Though these
represent about 50% of the hydro total, they
have been underperforming since 2004, mostly
because of increased droughts (blamed by
the government on climate change). In 2010,
however, the nation saw abundant rainfall
that allowed hydroelectric facilities to generate
36.6 GWh-30% higher than the historical
average and 65% above the 2009 figure.
But droughts and fierce opposition by
environmental groups aren't the only reasons
large hydropower plants will not be
counted on as significant future energy
sources. In addition, " there are [no more]
available spaces in our rivers for the installation
of a big hydro plant, " explained
David Gomez, the director of energy for
Spain's Trade Commission, based in Los
Angeles. The country intends to exploit all
its hydro potential, he told POWER, through
so-called " mini-hydro plants " of less than
10 MW, which are subsidized through feedin
tariffs.
Wind. Wind is faring better. Spain boasts
that wind power produced 42,976 GWh in
2010-15% of total generation. The sector's
rapid growth, reportedly boosted by premiums
and feed-in tariffs, has been aided by
a burgeoning wind manufacturing industry.
Several wind turbine makers have set up shop
in Spain, including Gamesa, Eólica, Acciona
Windpower, and Alstom-Ecotècnia, and
Spanish wind farm developers like Iberdrola
32
and Acciona Energía have projects all over
the world. The component supply chain, too,
is thriving: 75 industrial centers related to
wind exist in Spain, 18 of which are wind
turbine assembly plants.
Solar. In contrast, the solar photovoltaic
(PV) sector, which over the past five years
saw a similar-maybe even more pronounced-boom
driven by high subsidies,
has been frozen by uncertainty following the
government's December 2010 decision to
retroactively slash previously agreed-upon
subsidies to solar energy producers.
Meanwhile, the country maintains its
dominance in the solar thermoelectric sector
(see the sidebar). More than a third of
worldwide solar thermal electric capacity is
installed in Spain. The country that commissioned
the world's first commercial central
tower plant (the PS10 plant in Seville, Figure
3) in 2006 after establishing a feed-in tariff, is
actively developing projects to increase solar
thermal capacity to 2,400 MW by 2013-and
it is building and managing several projects
around the world. Of new capacity planned,
93% will likely be parabolic trough receiver
technology, central towers will make up 3%,
and the remainder will be Stirling dish and
Fresnel receivers.
Biomass. Feed-in tariffs for biomass
were also implemented in 2007, but growth
for that sector has been slow because the
remunerative framework that could spark
significant growth was " enacted practically
as the recession hit, " the Ministry of
Industry said. Today, Spain has some 400
MW of installed biomass capacity, fueled
by products from the pulp and paper, timEnergy
Technology Investments
Spurred by policy drafted by the country's
Ministry of Science and Innovation
and boosted by public funding that covers
basic and applied research to pilot and
demonstration projects, Spain has quickly
become a well-respected hub for energy
technology. Three primary institutions
have been pivotal in the rollout of new
technologies, from carbon capture to solar
thermal: CIEMAT, CENER, and CIUDEN.
CIEMET, the center for energy, environment,
and technological research, is
best known for its 250-acre Plataforma
Solar de Almería, a facility that tests and
optimizes numerous concentrating solar
power concepts. CENER operates a major
wind turbine test facility that includes
an experimental wind farm. CIUDEN,
located in the coal-mining region of El
www.powermag.com
ber, and olive oil industries.
Other Renewables. Spain has yet to
fully develop its marine and geothermal
power sectors. Valencia-based Iberdrola
Renovables is spearheading a project to install
10 Ocean Power Technology buoys for
a total rated capacity of 1.35 MW at a pilot
marine energy plant in Santoña. Meanwhile,
though studies have shown Spain
has substantial geothermal resources, no
power plants exist. Geothermal energy is
being developed for heating, however.
3. A solar beacon. The €35 million ($49
million) 11-MW PS10 concentrating solar power
tower, a facility featuring 624 heliostats,
went into operation in 2007. In 2009, owner
Abengoa Solar completed PS20, a 20-MW
solar tower facility at the same platform in
Sanlúcar la Mayor. It later began operating
Solnova 1, 3, and 4, three of five planned 50MW
parabolic trough plants. Along with two
other 50-MW projects (Solnova 2 and 5), another
20-MW tower plant (AZ20) and an 80kW
concentrating solar plant based on Stirling
dish technology are under construction there.
Courtesy: Abengoa Solar
Bierzo, carries out research and development
on clean coal technologies. The
institute is building a €72 million demonstration
plant for carbon capture with
oxyfuel combustion.
Privately funded research is also making
headway. Wind turbine maker Gamesa in
February, for example, announced it was
developing two families of offshore turbines,
the 5-MW G11X (to be tested in late
2012 in collaboration with German power
company E.ON) and the G14X, which could
have a capacity of up to 7 MW (a pre-series
is expected to be ready in 2014). Gamesa
and Spanish firms Acciona and Iberdrola,
among others, are also spearheading the
Azimut initiative, which seeks to develop
a 15-MW offshore wind turbine using only
Spanish technology.
POWER | June 2011
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POWER June 2011

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