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.”

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http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article6910298.ece