Iberianature

Wind power boost for Spain

From The Guardian: “Spain’s investment in renewables is paying dividends for distributors whose costs have plunged this year as winds buffet the country.”

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On Spain, Renewable energy in Spain, wind energy | Tags: record wind power production|

Wind farms and nature in Spain

A couple of articles on wind farms and their effect on nature and wildlife

One of Spain’s last untouched landscapes, the Sierra de Gata in north-western Extremadura, may shortly be inundated with up to 19 wind farms. The Times
And this piece by Steve West on his very nicely designed Birding in Spain site. “Should the inhabitants of Terra Alta, Montsià and Matarranya, with the great natural and scenic wealth of Els Ports, the serres of Pàndols and Cavalls, the wonderful via verda, the rivers Matarranya, Estrets, Algars (the cleanest in the Mediterranean basin)…should they let it all go and allow the hills to be plastered with wind turbines? ” Birding and sustainable tourism versus windfarms
This topic is also currently being hotly debated on the forum here. Renewable Energy, but at any price?

iberianature forum, Landscape, On Spain, Renewable energy in Spain, wind energy | Tags: effects of wind farms on wildlife, wind farms in Spain|

Wind farm construction in Capercaillie habitat paralysed by judge

Judge halts windpark in capercaillie territory
The Regional Government of Castilla y León ordered to explain why they authorised the works

The San Feliz windpark will have to wait. The heavy machinery belonging to the company Producciones Energéticas del Bierzo entered the León side of the Cantabrian Mountains in order to “pave the way” for the wind turbines. They don’t care that the area is one of the few remaining in which the Capercaillie still breeds. The alarm raised by the researchers specialising in this endangered species – there’s even a ringed female that they are monitoring on a daily basis – led the Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO) to request the courts to halt the works as an emergency measure. And even though judges are reluctant to take such steps, León’s Court No. 1 for Contentious Administrative Proceedings ruled that the works were to be halted. In his ruling, the judge stated that “the required urgency is crystal-clear”.
News originally found in El País and translated by Technopat on Iberianature forum.

birds, Cantabrian mountains, León, On Spain, Renewable energy in Spain, wind energy | Tags: Cantabrian capercaillie, Capercaillie, Producciones Energéticas del Bierzo, San Feliz windpark, SEO, wind farm|

Marine wind farms in Spain

The Spanish government has given the go-ahead for marine wind farms in Spain. The first generators are to come into operation by 2012, with 273 planned for the Straits, giving the same amount of energy as a nuclear power station, and enough for 700,00o homes. Although Spain has 4,872km of coastline and more regular winds than inland, much of the coast is not suitable for marine windfarms as the continental shelf drops away quickly, making it too expensive to site generators (El Pais). We shall have to see the impact studies to see their effect on birds, particularly in the planned farm between Conil and Barbate in the Straits of Gibraltar. Other possible sites include Vinaroz (Castellón), Delta del Ebro and the Golfo de Cadíz.

Andalucia, Renewable energy in Spain, Spanish seas, wind energy | |