Spain

The development of renewable energy sources in Spain has reached a level at which it
can be considered to be a significant source of energy supply.

The major contribution in the electricity sector comes from hydropower plants. Taking into consideration the perspectives of wind energy in the medium term, this sector could reach the level obtained by the hydropower. Electricity generation using biomass and municipal solid waste now accounts for over 300 MW of installed capacity, while photovoltaic is experiencing an increase of the market.

Thermal production from RES: approx. 99.1% came from biomass comprising very different applications. Solar thermal provides heat mostly in low-temperature installations, while geothermal provides heat in little installations of low-temperature, generally for tourism or agricultural uses.

The national wind energy industry exports wind turbines all over the world.

WE installed power in 2006 = 1.587 MWp.

Total WE installed power by the end of 2006 = 11.615 MWp.

Growth in the annual capacity of PV installed is occurring in grid connected applications and so-called professional applications (signalling, communication and protection devices such as lighthouses, aerial safety systems and motorway emergency telephones, etc. and in general the applications used to meet low levels of consumption in infrastructures).

Geothermal energy is a sector with only a small potential in Spain. The difficulty in
exploiting this type of resources is basically due to the need to link supply to demand,
particularly in the case of low temperature applications.