The company’s wind farms around the world have achieved record output of 6,812 million kilowatt hours (kWh), 26.2% higher than in the same period last year
Iberdrola Renovables has an installed wind farm capacity of 11,294 megawatts (MW), after adding 1,671 MW in the last 12 months (+17.4 %) and, in doing so, strengthening its position as world leader in the renewables sector
Much of this growth in installed capacity has been in the US, where 796 MW have come on stream in the last 12 months, taking total capacity to 3,827 MW, and in Spain, where 607 MW have been brought into operation, taking total capacity to 5,566 MW
Iberdrola Renovables, the world’s leading wind energy company, produced 6,812 million kilowatts hour (kWh) at all its facilities around the world in the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 26.2% from the same period last year.
Of the total, 6,595 million kWh were generated by the company’s wind turbines, 206 million kWh by its small-scale hydroelectric plants and 11 million kWh by other technologies, such as biomass or solar thermal.
Wind energy continued to form the core of Iberdrola Renovables’ business in the first quarter, accounting for 96.8% of the generation mix. Of the total, 3,528 million kWh was generated in Spain, 2,089 million kWh in the US, 610 million kWh in the ROW –the rest of Europe and South America- and 368 million kWh in the UK.
The largest increases in wind farm output were registered in Spain, with 35.8% (+931 million kWh); the ROW, with 41.5% (+179 million kWh), and the US, with 20.7% (+358 million kWh).
This record was achieved despite inclement weather conditions from January to March in Spain and the rest of Europe, which highlights the efficiency of the company’s wind farms and the extent to which these installations and their operators are prepared for extreme climatic phenomena.
In this regard, Iberdrola Renovables’ Control Centre in Toledo, a global reference point for renewable energies worldwide, has played a key role enabling the company to control and operate its wind farms in real time.
Global leader by installed capacity
Iberdrola Renovables has strengthened its position as the world leader in terms of installed capacity, with 11,294 megawatts (MW), having increased its total capacity by 1,671 MW over the past 12 months.
More than half of total capacity is located outside Spain, while wind energy contributes close to 97% of total output. Most of the additional capacity installed in the last 12 months was in the US, where 796 MW has come on stream, taking total capacity to 3,827 MW.
A significant part of the company’s growth is in the US, due, among other factors to the favourable regulatory environment there. In fact, to date the company has already received $577 million in grants from the US government, and hopes to receive an additional $430 million in 2010 as its wind farms come on stream. These incentives are reinvested entirely in the US.
In Spain, Iberdrola Renovables has installed 607 MW over the last 12 months, taking its total capacity here to 5,566 MW. Most notably, during the first quarter the El Andévalo (Huelva) wind farm, the largest renewable energy facility in Spain, with capacity 244 MW, was brought on stream.
The company has 5,172 MW of wind capacity in Spain, representing a 555 MW increase in the year. It also has 342 MW of small-scale hydroelectric capacity, 50 MW at the solar thermal electric plant in Puertollano (Ciudad Real), and 2 MW at its first forestry biomass power plant in Corduente (Guadalajara).
By region, Castile-La Mancha boasts the largest installed capacity with 1,981 MW, followed by Castille y León (1,213 MW), Andalusia (791 MW), Galicia (627 MW), Aragon (278 MW), La Rioja (248 MW), the Basque Country (153 MW), Murcia (146 MW), Valencia (56 MW), Navarre (44 MW), Cantabria (23 MW), Extremadura (5 MW) and Madrid (1 MW).
IBERDROLA RENOVABLES’ capacity in the rest of the world stands at 1,099 MW. It had 283 MW in France, 219 MW in Greece, 161 MW in Poland, 92 MW in Portugal, 80 MW in Mexico, 63 MW in Germany, 66 MW in Italy, 86 MW in Hungary and 49 MW in Brazil.
IBERDROLA RENOVABLES plans to roll out 1,750 MW of capacity around the world during 2010, taking its accumulated capacity to 12,500 MW. The company, with operations in 23 countries, is the world leader in its sector in both installed capacity (11,294 MW) and output (over 21,000 million kWh in 2009).
