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Wind Energy Reaches 43 Percent Of Spain's Electrical Demand
North American Windpower ^ | 11/25/2008

Posted on 11/25/2008 9:55:16 AM PST by Uncledave

Wind Energy Reaches 43 Percent Of Spain's Electrical Demand by NAW staff on Tuesday 25 November 2008

At 5 a.m. Central European Time (CET) on Nov. 24, wind power reached a new record of meeting 43% of Spain's electricity demand - with 9,253 MW of wind energy in operation - of the 21,264 MW total demand.

The previous record was broken March 22 at 6 p.m. CET, with 40.8% of the demand, or 9,862 MW. At 12:30 p.m. CET on Nov. 24, 10,263 MW were being produced simultaneously. The previous record of 10,880 MW of wind production was reached on April 18 at 4:50 p.m. CET, representing 30% of the peninsula's demand.

According to La Asociacion Empresarial Eolica, wind energy prices could drop to 6 euros per MWh. Wind energy has experienced a savings of 2.077 billion euros for the electrical system (4.50 euros of savings per citizen).

SOURCE: La Asociacion Empresarial Eolica


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: energy; windpower
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1 posted on 11/25/2008 9:55:17 AM PST by Uncledave
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To: RedStateRocker; Dementon; eraser2005; Calpernia; DTogo; Maelstrom; Yehuda; babble-on; ...
Renewable Energy Ping

Please Freep Mail me if you'd like on/off

2 posted on 11/25/2008 9:55:42 AM PST by Uncledave
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To: Uncledave

Surely only at peak output.

I can’t believe this statistic.


3 posted on 11/25/2008 9:56:18 AM PST by ConservativeMind (Obama is bringing in every crook and bumbler he can to assure consistency in his message.)
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To: Uncledave

“According to La Asociacion Empresarial Eolica, wind energy prices could drop to 6 euros per MWh. Wind energy has experienced a savings of 2.077 billion euros for the electrical system (4.50 euros of savings per citizen).”

Very nice to see that they have made this actually save money. Not much per person but I do like to see green energy when it is cost competitive.


4 posted on 11/25/2008 9:56:49 AM PST by DemonDeac
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To: DemonDeac

Has it saved them any money? Are the just comparing Wind power rates vs Conventional, without the costs of building infrastructure?


5 posted on 11/25/2008 9:59:07 AM PST by padre35 (You shall not ignore the laws of God, the Market, the Jungle, and Reciprocity Rm10.10)
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To: ConservativeMind
Surely only at peak output.

And, at 5am - minimal demand.

It powered 43% of Spain's glowing alarm clocks.

6 posted on 11/25/2008 9:59:27 AM PST by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: padre35

I’m just going by the quote.


7 posted on 11/25/2008 9:59:50 AM PST by DemonDeac
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To: dead

The previous records were at noon and 5 pm though. So it has been handy at other times.


8 posted on 11/25/2008 10:02:59 AM PST by Mr. Blonde (You ever thought about being weird for a living?)
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To: Mr. Blonde

It’s good that they get some significant power from the wind. The problem is, if they can’t rely on the source, they still need to have the redunant suppliers online at all times. Kinda minimizes the positive impact outside those brief gloriously windy moments.


9 posted on 11/25/2008 10:07:38 AM PST by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: dead

Computerization of both the electric power supply systems, and of individual households can deal with this problem. Say you’ve got a plug-in car, it can be set to charge up at the time when power is cheapest to generate, and that might be around 5 AM.


10 posted on 11/25/2008 10:08:35 AM PST by hunter112 (We seem to be on an excrement river in a Native American watercraft without a propulsion device.)
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To: ConservativeMind

Wind is unreliable and cannot be more than a small fraction of US supply given our grid requirements. Too much wind power in a grid will cause it to crash. Ideally we sshould have nuclear power covering majority of the baseload and a few gas plants taking care of the peak demand.


11 posted on 11/25/2008 10:08:39 AM PST by Saberwielder
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To: Uncledave

The percentage would be expected to be highest at night, when the wind speeds typically are highest and when demand is lowest. Without any data showing how these figures compare with other time of day/time of year figures, this is only a “feel good” report.


12 posted on 11/25/2008 10:13:53 AM PST by BMiles2112
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To: Saberwielder

Nuclear and wind don’t mix well, because it is difficult to alter the output of a nuke plant. So wind really needs to be backed up with coal or gas.


13 posted on 11/25/2008 10:15:03 AM PST by Koblenz (The Dem Platform, condensed: 1. Tax and Spend. 2. Cut and Run. 3. Man on Man)
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To: Saberwielder

What this deceptive news article doesn’t say is for how long did wind power hit 43% of base load? Was it 5 minutes or one hour or what? Let’s give it the benefit of doubt and say it was one hour - that’s still a very very small amount of electricity production compared to total demand in one day (1.8% of daily demand). Also, you can’t predict when this 43% of electricity will be available. And you still have to pay conventional energy suppliers (coal, gas, nuclear) to generate backup power (which has to be paid for) because wind power is so unreliable. Forty three percent of pure redundant power is not much to brag about.


14 posted on 11/25/2008 10:17:56 AM PST by WayneLusvardi (It's more complex than it might seem)
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To: Uncledave
“...21,264 MW total demand.”

Tennessee was using 28,000 MW last week.

15 posted on 11/25/2008 10:21:16 AM PST by fireforeffect (A kind word and a 2x4, gets you more than just a kind word.)
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To: ConservativeMind

“I can’t believe this statistic.”

I was just in Spain (briefly) a few weeks ago & took a tour to a little town called Mijas about an hour’s drive from Malaga on the coast. We were told Mijas got electricity finally in 1996. So how many other towns are not on the grid yet? And I doubt they’re as wired in as we are. Maybe wind is enough...for awhile.


16 posted on 11/25/2008 10:21:23 AM PST by Twotone
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To: Saberwielder
Wind is unreliable and cannot be more than a small fraction of US supply...
Amen to that, wind power requires 100% available(on line) redundant backup for the electric grid. That means you cannot shed any power generation costs related to peak demand because it would only be a coincidence if wind energy was available at that moment to meet the demand. Wind power could theoretically be used to power energy storage like pumping water uphill , but that would usually occur during off-peak grid times anyway(at night).
17 posted on 11/25/2008 10:21:48 AM PST by Old North State
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To: Uncledave

I’m curious as to the cost,today,of one killowatt hour of electricity generated by wind vs one generated in more conventional ways.And assuming wind power is a *lot* more expensive than traditional power by how much can wind power be made cheaper over time...if it can be made at all cheaper?


18 posted on 11/25/2008 10:24:36 AM PST by Gay State Conservative (Obama:"Ich bin ein beginner")
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To: Koblenz

Why is it difficult to regulate the power on a nuke?


19 posted on 11/25/2008 10:25:09 AM PST by MarkeyD (11-4-08 For the first time I can say I am ashamed of my country.)
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To: BMiles2112
The percentage would be expected to be highest at night, when the wind speeds typically are highest and when demand is lowest.

Where in the world is the average wind speed higher at night than day?

20 posted on 11/25/2008 10:26:02 AM PST by Travis T. OJustice (Change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy.)
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