Spain surpasses the 30,000 megawatt installed wind power capacity mark

There is no electricity generation technology in Spain that has more installed capacity than wind power. 30,011 megawatts. Almost 3,800 megawatts more than the second technology on the list: combined cycle (plants that burn natural gas to produce electricity). Until 2020, combined cycle was the technology with the most megawatts of installed capacity: 26,250. The number of combined cycle plants grew extraordinarily during the first years of the 21st century, to the point that in 2007 this technology had more megawatts of power than any other in Spain. This formidable, dizzying escalation of gas took place in just five years (the first combined cycle plant in Spain came into operation in 2002). The fact is that, from 2007 until July 2020, the combined cycle generator fleet was the most powerful in the national electricity mix (26,250 megawatts of power). The first half of that year, 2020, was the first major "wind" turning point in the history of the Spanish electricity system. After thirteen years of gas dominance, wind power ended that semester as the leading technology in the mix, with 26,433 MW in operation. Today, the national wind farm exceeds 30,000 MW.

The National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan has set the 2030 target for 74% of Spain's electricity to come from renewable sources by that year (100% is the 2050 target). In that roadmap to 2030, the Executive Sanchez aims to reach a national wind farm of 50,333 megawatts and freezes the operational combined cycles at that date (2030) at 26.This means that the breakthrough in mid-2020 and the 30 gigawatts milestone reached this week will only be two milestones on the 2030 route for wind power, which has just over 7 years ahead of it to add another 20 to those 30 gigawatts. This (this target) will require a considerable increase in the annual rate of power installation, as the sector has only installed 1,670 megawatts of new wind power in Spain in 2022. It would therefore be necessary to increase this cruising speed to approximately 2,500 megawatts per year. Because only then will the country achieve a national wind farm of 50,333 MW in 2030, which is the target set by the Government in the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (a plan that is subject, precisely this year, to review).