The use of wind energy for the generation of electricity has been totally stagnant in Catalonia for three years. In the years 2019, 2020 and 2021, Catalonia did not add a single megawatt (that is, no new installation or expansion of existing plants) from wind turbines, according to data from the Wind Energy Business Association (AEE).
The information collected in the Wind Energy Yearbook 2022, presented by this business organization on August 31, once again highlights the great differences between autonomous communities in the implementation of new uses of wind energy. Thus, while Aragón (which added 275.6 MW last year), Castilla-León (155.4 MW) and Asturias (125 MW) occupied the first positions in terms of new capacity installed with this renewable energy technology, Catalonia and other eight communities remained at zero (see graphs in detail)
The data from the AEE yearbooks indicate that in Catalonia no new wind installations (or expansion of existing plants) have been put into service since 2018, the year in which 2.37 MW were added, from the Viure de l'Aire del Cel in Pujalt (Anoia), promoted by popular initiative. In 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014 Catalonia had also gone to zero in the installation of wind turbines, according to data from the Wind Energy Business Association.
“Since 2013, we are [in Catalonia] in a desert. The 2009 regulations have been a total failure”, confirmed Jaume Morron, manager of EolicCat (Asociación Eólica de Catalunya), in statements to La Vanguardia in January 2019. Apart from the projects under study and processing, the real situation of the implementation of wind energy in Catalonia has not improved in the last two years.
The 2022 Wind Yearbook details that in 2021 wind turbines with a total power of 842.61 MW were installed in Spain and 18.30 MW were dismantled, placing the total as of December 31 at 28,139.51 MW. The figure of new wind power installed in 2021 "is relevant, but well below the 2.2 GW per year that would be necessary to install until 2030 to achieve the objectives set in the National Plan National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC)" , highlights AEE.
There are currently 1,298 wind farms in operation in Spain (located in 857 municipalities), for a total of 21,574 installed wind turbines. In 2021, 60,485 GWh of wind power were generated, 10.2% more than in 2020. In addition, wind power operated an average of 2,140 equivalent hours per year and has covered 23.3% of the total electricity generation in the entire state in 2021, "positioning itself as the first technology in the Spanish energy mix, above nuclear (20.8%), which until now occupied that first position", according to data published by AEE.
The autonomous communities with the highest installed wind power are Castilla y León (6,404 MW), Aragón (4,435 MW) and Castilla La Mancha (3,954 MW).
Regarding the ranking of wind generation by provinces, Zaragoza remains in first position in 2021 with 8,160 GWh, being the first province in history to exceed 8 TWh of wind generation. It is followed by Lugo with 4,674 GWh and Burgos with 4,511 GWh.
Detail graphs in the 2022 Wind Yearbook
