During the early hours of this morning, 8 November 2009, between the hours of 4.30 am and 6.10 am wind power energy covered 53% of the electricity demand. This percentage is 10 points higher than the previous record.

The centre for the control of renewable energies (CECRE) is the facility of Red Eléctrica de España that makes it possible to integrate wind power energy into the grid under safe conditions. For Luis Atienza, Chairman of Red Eléctrica, this is "a milestone for the electricity system of which we feel enormously proud. We are extremely satisfied to have become world leaders in the integration of renewable energy and of our technological capacity, unique in the world, to manage this in a safe way".

The forecast is that today, the record for wind contribution in one complete day will be beaten, due to the force of the wind and the demand that are characteristic of a Bank holiday. Additionally, it is possible that the absolute record for wind power production, established at 11,203 MW on 5 March 2009 might be beaten. More real-time data can be obtained at www.ree.es.

At 5.10 am, the hour of minimum demand, 2,000 MW were being exported and a similar quantity of electricity was being used to pump water from the lower elevation reservoirs to the higher elevation reservoirs in the pumped storage hydroelectric facilities. This data shows the importance that the development of international electricity interconnections, such as the one that Red Eléctrica is currently constructing to increase the exchange capacity with France, have for the safe integration of renewable energy. In addition, the power of the pumps is due to be increased, which will allow to continue advancing in the integration of renewables.

For Luis Atienza, "the risk that on these windy early mornings there is not enough demand to take advantage of all the wind power energy being produced, risk which is augmented as a result of the increase in installed wind power capacity, must be alleviated by increasing the electricity storage capacity and the export capacity. Additionally, it would be advisable to move a part of the electricity demand towards those hours of low consumption. In this sense, electric vehicles, in that their application would be to recharge during the early hours of the morning, are called upon to facilitate the integration of more renewable generation into the electricity system".

On the other hand, at 11.54 yesterday morning, an electrical disturbance in the Olmedilla substation, Cuenca, produced the instantaneous disconnection of almost 1,000 MW of wind power energy. Thanks to the powerful technology and to the control systems of Red Eléctrica, and, mainly, to the role of the centre responsible for the control of renewable energies (CECRE), unique in the world dedicated to the safe integration of these energies, the problem did not affect users at all.