Spain’s wind turbines supply half of the national power grid

Spain was celebrating its commitment to renewable energy yesterday after wind turbines dotted across the country produced more than half of all its electricity for the first time.

High winds across Spain on Sunday meant that for over five hours, over 53 per cent of the country’s power came from wind energy. The towering white wind turbines which loom over Castilla-La Mancha — home to Cervantes’s hero Don Quixote — and which dominate other parts of Spain, set a new record in wind energy production.

Most of the wind power was used immediately, 6 per cent was stored and 7.7 per cent was exported to France, Portugal and Morocco.

In the past decade Spain has relentlessly invested in wind power, along with other renewable sources, making it the third-biggest supplier after the United States and Germany. Luis Atienza, president of Red Eléctrica which runs Spain’s electricity grid, said: “This makes us proud. There is no other country of our size which has completed and bettered a renewable energy production of over 50 per cent in such a timescale.”

José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain’s Prime Minister, a strong believer in renewable energy, has hinted his Government may phase out nuclear plants.

The move has provoked opposition from within the nuclear industry, his own party and from the opposition conservative Popular Party.

Spain began its wind power push in 1997, but five years ago critics believed it could not produce more than 14 per cent of the country’s electricity.

Wind farms have produced 17,700 megawatt-hours (mWh) of electricity so far this year, but renewable energy industry figures believe this figure could rise to 40,000mWh by 2020.

Spain’s Socialist Government invested €991 million (£890 million) in wind power in 2007. Already it has reaped a return on its investment; in 2007 it saved €1 billion on fossil fuels, according to the Spanish Environment Ministry.

José Donoso, president of the Spanish Wind Energy Association, said: “A few years ago no one would have predicted these figures but we believe we can go on rising.

“It will be good for the environment and reduce our importation of fossil fuels.”

Red Electrica said this year wind power is expected to produce 13 per cent of all electricity, hydroelectric power 10 per cent and solar power 2.5 per cent. Spain’s solar industry is one of the fastest growing in the world.

Nuclear energy produced 20.9 per cent of Spain’s energy needs last year and critics claim the country cannot dispense with a source which supplies almost a fifth of its power.

One admirer of Spain’s sustainable energy programme is President Obama.

During a meeting with Mr Zapatero at the White House last month, the US President praised Spain as a “worldwide leader” in renewable energy.