The sector regrets the lack of progress in wind energy development in Galicia in the last five years and assures that the 2,500 megawatts (MW) in projects halted by the judiciary, in reference to the precautionary suspensions of the High Court of Justice of Galicia, are “rigorously authorized” by the Xunta.
“It is urgent to fully apply the EU directive that attributes the highest public interest to energy,” claims EGA. “Who is interested in or benefits from this situation?” it questions. “The energy transition and the electrification of the economy with renewable sources are irreversible facts, no matter how much the opponents revolt,” the promoters emphasize.
On the occasion of the celebration today of Energy Efficiency Day, EGA warns that “the strong international tensions” due to the tariff war and armed conflicts “will cause a new increase in energy costs and greater dependence on fossil fuels.” “Wind is one of Galicia’s great natural resources, with extraordinary potential in terms of energy independence, industrial development and the fight against climate change,” they argue. “It is,” the promoters add, “a fact that needs no further explanation.”
The repowering of wind farms represents a crucial opportunity for the Spanish energy sector, but it faces significant challenges in its processing and profitability. Currently, 7% of the installed wind power in Spain (155 farms) is already over 25 years old, and 30% is over 20 years old, which opens the door to a modernization process that could significantly increase the production of renewable energy.
However, for this opportunity to materialize, public administrations need to simplify the processing processes and respect the freedom of companies to decide when and how to renew their facilities.
Listen here to the full Ondas del Viento program on repowering with Juan Virgilio Márquez, general director of the Asociación Empresarial Eólica and Heikki Willstedt, director of energy policies and climate change at the AEE.
According to Juan Virgilio Márquez, general manager of the Asociación Empresarial Eólica (AEE), “repowering is basically the replacement of the old park, a park that is 25 or more years old, with a new park with new machines that are larger, digital and more efficient. We convert a park that has worked well into one that is even more productive, with fewer wind turbines.”
For Heikki Willstedt, director of Energy Policies and Climate Change at the AEE, this renovation responds to two major European challenges: “One is our energy dependence. In Europe we depend on imported energy for more than 60%. In Spain that reaches more than 75%. And what we are seeing is that energy is going to be more and more a geopolitical battlefield.” The second challenge is related to the fight against climate change: “We need clean and indigenous energy.”
Repowering allows for obtaining “between 30-50% more energy with the same installed capacity”, taking advantage of the fact that the first wind farms are located in the sites with the best wind resources.
Administrative obstacles: excessively slow processing
One of the main problems facing repowering is the administrative slowness. “The renewable energy directive says that the processing should be able to be done in an accelerated manner, in a single year at the most, for the parks that want to be repowered,” says Willstedt. However, “we have not yet transposed the renewable energy directive in Spain. The deadlines are not met and there is no ad hoc legislation for repowering.”
The current administrative process can take between two and four years, similar to that for a new park, which is a serious problem for companies.
The need for incentives
“Companies have to be the ones to decide when to repower a park,” says Márquez, who emphasizes the importance of business freedom in these decisions. Regarding incentives, he explains that they would be necessary to compensate for “the income that will not be received for a time to encourage companies to repower as soon as possible.”
Without incentives, he warns, “companies will decide to extend the operation of their parks to the maximum and until the moment arrives when the accounts are correct, they will obviously continue to operate a park.”
The case of Galicia
Regarding the recent Galician law that requires repowering parks that are more than 25 years old, Willstedt believes that “it goes against what is the free establishment of companies and business decisions have to be absolutely free.” As he explained, “there is a violation of both community law and Spanish law.”
Márquez adds that these obligations “do not send an adequate message to companies” and may negatively affect future investments: “We are playing a lot, a lot of future investment that for it to come and come with certainty and come quickly, what we need is legal security.”
Technological advances: more energy with less impact
The new wind turbines represent a considerable technological leap. “They are wind turbines with greater power. In some cases they multiply by ten the power of the old wind turbine and are capable of generating, with the same installed power of the park, in some cases more than double the energy,” explains Márquez.
These new machines “start working with less wind speed,” which makes areas that were previously not viable. In addition, “they are digitalized, they are connected, there are even systems that allow you to generate digital twins to simulate the behavior of the park.”
The environmental impact also improves significantly. Although the blades are larger (they can go from 12 to 64 meters in length), there are fewer wind turbines and the towers are higher, which reduces the risk for certain species of birds.
