Spain maximising the power of wind

Spain has set itself an ambitious 100 per cent renewable target – but for just a moment.

Spanish firm Acciona in Pamplona monitors 9500 wind turbines around the world minute-by-minute on a large screen, sometimes as far away as Australia (17,000km).

Last November, wind energy provided 70 per cent of Spain’s energy and the daytime record was reached in January 2015, when 54 per cent of energy was produced by wind.

Acciona centre director Miguel Ezpeleta said forecasting the wind was important to achieving a higher renewable result.

“It’s incredible. Some years ago people would say we would be crazy people saying these kinds of things, just dreaming but today it’s a real situation,” Mr Ezpeleta said.

“I think kpeople are going to tell me we’re crazy, but I’m pretty sure we’ll arrive at 100 per cent for one moment for sure.”

The European Union target is 20 per cent renewable energy by 2020.

Pamplona has been known for its renewable energy production since the 1980s, when it introduced wind generation.

Spain’s electrical system was built to ensure reliability and take very heavy knocks with extreme weather events or major technical failures.

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