SPANISH WIND HITS 54% OF POWER, A NEW RECORD

Spain stops turbines to balance power supply after wind meets record 54% power demand
Daniel Fineren (w/Martin Roberts), 30 December 2009 (Reuters)

"Spain had to shut down some of its wind turbines [December 30] as wet and windy weather caused a surge in green electricity generation at a time of low demand…[but earlier that day the] country's thousands of wind turbines supplied a new record of 54.1 percent of demand…forcing gas- and coal-fired power plants to run at minimum output to avoid system overload as hydropower companies drained brimming reservoirs…"

[Spanish grid operator Red Electrica:] "High wind output in the early hours of this morning, together with the high level of hydropower generation, due to reservoirs opening up after recent rains, forced the control centre to cut thermal power to a technical minimum…Due to low demand at the moment this was not enough ... So the control centre had to order wind power production to be cut between 4 am and 7 am this morning by 600 megawatts."

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"Spain has invested heavily in wind power generation over the last decade to cut carbon emissions and reduce its reliance on imported fuel…It now has over 18,000 MW of turbines installed, out of a total power generation capacity of about 93,000 MW, and first produced over half of its electricity with them early on Nov. 9.

"Wind turbines are seen as a key technology for producing electricity without emitting climate-warming carbon. But the Spanish experience highlights the [challenges] for grid and other plant operators in balancing the system when the wind blows hard and there is little demand, especially early in the morning."

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"Greater numbers of electric cars charging up overnight could help absorb some of the extra output in future but there are still too few to make a difference.

"Wind power output hit 54.1 percent of demand [and over 10,000 megawatts] at around 0350 local time (0250 GMT)…Even after the order to cut output the remaining turbines were still producing around 40 percent of Spain's power at around 7 am, reducing the contribution of coal and gas plants to under 5 percent in the hours in between…"