Spain stepped up its use of wind farms and hydroelectric plants in 2013, leading to a remarkable drop of 23% in greenhouse gas emissions from the country’s power sector.
For the first time ever, wind power was a leading source of electricity for the country last year.
The increased wind and hydroelectric capacity coupled with an increase in solar capacity meant that by the end of the year renewables accounted for 49.1% of total installed power capacity in Spain.
Wind turbines met 21.1% of the demand on electricity, nudging out nuclear reactors, which provided 21%, by the slimmest of margins.
In total, wind farms energy was estimated to be up by 12% over 2012 and hydroelectric power by 16%.
Meanwhile, power from gas plants dropped 34%, from coal-fired plants by 27% and nuclear output dropped 8%.
The analysis of Spanish power follows news last year that Portugal had successfully generated over 70% of its power from renewables during the first quarter of the year, driven by a surge in wind and hydro power output.
