Reuters: Spanish wind power sets new records

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssUtilitiesElectric/idUSLN73167420090123

UPDATE 1-Spanish wind power sets new records

Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:01am EST

MADRID, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Spain's booming wind parks have set new records for power and electricity generation, national grid operator REE (REE.MC: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Friday.

REE said power output peaked on Thursday evening at 11,175 megawatts, beating a previous maximum of 10,880 MW set on April 18 last year.

Wind generators also set a record of 234,059 megawatt-hours for the amount of electricity produced in a day, which was enough to meet 26 percent of demand. The previous maximum of 213,169 MWh was also tallied on April 18, 2008.

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In comparison, Spain's ageing nuclear power plants have an installed capacity of 7,800 MW and produce a constant 7,300 MW when working normally.

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[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. good

[DCKit]

2. Wait for it..... n/t

[guardian]

3. Spain is also doing some neat solar power stuff

Seems to me we do more of this in the sunny parts of the US.



link: http://www.power-technology.com/projects/Seville-Solar-Tower/

A futuristic looking 11MW solar tower has been completed is being built near Seville, Spain as part of a 300MW solar power project.

Located in the Andalusian countryside in the municipality of Sanlucar la Mayor, the 40-storey high concrete tower collects sunlight reflected by a field of 624 huge mirrors. The light is so intense that it lights up dust and water vapour in the air. The project has been widely described as looking like something out of a sci-fi movie.
Article Continues

The 'Solar Platform' is being constructed by Solucar, and will use a range of solar technologies. The first two power plants to be brought into operation were the PS10, the world's first commercial thermoelectric solar tower, and Sevilla PV, the largest low concentration system photovoltaic plant.
"The light is so intense that it lights up dust and water vapour in the air."

Costing around €1,200m, the whole plant will be completed by 2013, when it will produce around 300MW – energy for around 180,000 homes, equivalent to the needs of the city of Seville. It will then prevent emissions of more than 600,000t of CO2 into the atmosphere per year over its 25-year life. The platform will create more than 1,000 jobs in the manufacturing and construction phase, and 300 service and maintenance jobs.

This project is the result of cooperation between institutions including Ciemat, the IDEA, and the University of Seville.

11MW Solar power plant

The 11MW PS10 solar power plant will generates 24.3GW/hr per year of clean energy. It will have 624 heliostats that track the sun, each with a 120m² surface area parabolic mirror. The mirrors are focused on a 115m tower, heating water pipes that provide 200m² of water-cooled energy exchange surface area. The thermal energy produces steam which drives a turbine to generate electricity. During the day, the power drives the air conditioners that cool buildings in the city of Seville.

Heat is also stored as steam to allow generation at half load for an hour or longer after dark. This is a relatively short storage time, partially because the tower uses water rather than molten salt for heat storage. The water is held in thermally clad tanks and reaches temperatures of 250°C – 255°C (instead of around 600°C for systems using salt). Solucar has opted for water to reduce fatigue on the system components and to ensure simplicity and robustness for the project.

Second generation PS20

PS20 will have twice the PS10 output, with more than 1,000 two-axis sun tracking heliostats driving 120m² mirrors. These mirrors will concentrate solar radiation onto the receiver on top of a 165m tower. PS20 represents a second generation technology with important improvements to receiver and other critical elements.
"It will produce around 300MW – energy for around 180,000 homes."

The 1.2MW Sevilla PV plant will comprise 154 silicon plate heliostats that produce electricity from solar radiation. The remaining power plants will be built over the next few years. It will then include low- and high-concentration photovoltaic, tower thermoelectric, parabolic-trough collector and Stirling dish plants.

Although power from the plant will be more expensive than from conventional sources, prices will fall as the technologies develop. System costs are also more attractive if compared with the cost of generating power from coal or gas only at times of peak demand.

Solucar

Solucar is the parent company of Abengoa SA's solar business unit. Abengoa is a Spanish-based diversified energy company. Since having been founded in 1941, it has expanded its operations to include solar energy and bioenergy. The company has opened a new US subsidiary focused on generating electricity using CSP (Concentrating Solar Power).

Abengoa has five business units: Solar, bioenergy, environmental services, information technologies, and industrial engineering and construction.

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. Incredible growth in Spanish solar energy market spells good and bad news for PV industry

http://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/paginas/Contenidosecciones.asp?ID=3334&Tipo=&Nombre=Renewable%20energy%20news

Incredible growth in Spanish solar energy market spells good and bad news for PV industry

The Spanish PV market grew by more than 2661 Megawatts of new installed power in 2008. As a result, the global PV market has grown by around 5600 Megawatts.

23/1/2009

This enormous 100% increase compared with the 2007 figure explains part of the scarcity and high module prices in 2008. But, with a cap of 500 MW in 2009, it also means that the Spanish market will decrease in size by at least 80% (or more than 2100 MW) this year. And that is bad news for the global PV industry as it faces an oversupply situation and bad economic times. However, this turns into good news for the customer, as prices along the supply chain have decreased by at least 20-40%. Solar modules are now cheaper than ever before. Record growth could be even higher. The figures for the Spanish PV market were published by the Spanish magazine Energias Renovables, which quoted sources from CNE (Comisión Nacional de la Energía). CNE pays out to the energy utilities that in turn give the feed-in tariff to customers with a PV installation. The more than 300% increase compared to 2007 could be even higher. CNE estimates that the 2008 market could well be above 3500 Megawatts. This would mean that the Spanish market in 2008 alone was bigger than the global market figure for 2007. Even the figure of 2661 MW is astonishing, and comes as a surprise to most people in the solar energy business. It not only made Spain the world’s biggest PV market in 2008, but clearly demonstrates that the new regulation will have a major impact on the global PV market. Although other PV markets in the world will continue to grow, the impact is such that the global PV market in 2009 is likely to decrease by around 10% compared to 2008 according to calculations by SolarPlaza.

Lessons from Spain

In 2007, and during the first half of 2008, all the sign for PV were positive. There was a very attractive feed-in tariff in Spain, credit lines were easy to get, oil prices were rising and economies growing rapidly. Now, the industry faces a strong head wind with oil prices very low, economies in recession, finance hard to obtain and the world’s largest market regulated by a cap with a 30% lower feed-in tariff. The consequence will be felt throughout the entire industry. Several major international companies recently announced cut backs in staff. As many Spanish companies were focused on the domestic market, jobs, and a part of the solar energy business infrastructure, will be lost. What happened in Spain clearly shows that the global PV market is still strongly dependent on government support programs and decisions by politicians. What is needed for continuous market development is not the highest feed-in tariff, but a stable and long-term policy and program. What works is a feed-in tariff that is decreased by clear steps over time. It provides the industry with targets for cost reduction, working towards a situation where incentives are no longer needed. It is no coincidence that Germany, not the country with the best solar resources, is the world’s leading PV market.

Germans set to take the lead again

The German government decreased the feed-in tariff by almost 10% at the start of 2009. Nevertheless, this market is likely to continue to grow steadily. Module prices in the world markets have fallen by more than 20% over the last months. Germany will therefore resume the lead from Spain to again be the world’s largest PV market in 2009. The stable solar policy pays off…

Strong long-term outlook for USA

Many people expect that Obama's renewable energy plans will lead to a further push for solar energy in the USA. The eight year guaranteed Tax Credit regulation, approved under President Bush, offers an excellent starting point for stable growth. Experts predicted a market growth of around 50% before Obama was elected. Much will now depend on recovery of the economy and details of Obama’s plans. But even if the Californian and whole US-market were to grow by 100% in 2009, the US market will be comparable with that of Spain (about 500 MWp). The longer-term prospects are even better. Several energy utilities in the USA have discovered PV as a serious and viable option for power supply. Many large scale PV projects, like the 800 MWp project by PG&E in California, are being prepared and developed. The push for renewable and solar, and an economic recovery, could make the USA one of the major PV markets from 2010 onwards.

…

[izzybeans]

4. Couple this with that kid in Ottawa's bird deflector

and the Luddite's have no more excuses.

[diane in sf]

6. This is great--they are having major drought problems there--

wind and solar are very compatible with their climate issues.