Wind power in Spain reaches an historic high in March 2011

By Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Madrid, Spain: Wind power became Spain's main source of electricity for the first time ever in April 2011 and wind farms accounted for 21 percent of demand and reached a monthly record, which is 5.0 percent more than in March 2010.

Spain is a country renowned for its focus on renewable energy but very few people will have realized how much energy Spain derives from wind rather than, as people might like to assume, solar.

With the Spanish wind energy production of March 2011 it would be possible to cover the monthly electricity consumption of a country the size of Portugal, according to the the AEE, Spain's association of wind farms.

“This historic milestone reached by wind energy shows that this energy source, as well as being indigenous, clean and increasingly competitive, is also capable of providing three million Spanish households,” said AEE president Jose Donoso.

The AEE said that the growth in wind energy was “the main reason why 2010 was the first year in which Spain was a (net) exporter of electricity along with France.”

Once can but congratulate Spain on this achievement and this should be a proof as to what can be done with renewable energy and more could still be done if we but redesigned the way that we actually use electricity.

It also, somehow, puts pay to the claim that there is not enough wind to go around which some sources made on April 1st, and which could also be an April Fools.

© 2011