The demand for electrical energy on the Spanish peninsula was 22,402 GWh in the month of December, representing a drop of 2.1% with respect to the same month last year.
After factoring in the effects of seasonal and working patterns, the adjusted demand showed a growth of 0.6%.

At the close of 2009, the demand for electrical energy had reached 251,524 GWh, 4.6% less than in 2008. Factoring in the effects of seasonal and working patterns, the adjusted demand showed a fall of 4.3% during the period.

Evolution of demand growth 

 

Blue line: Demand.
Red line: Adjusted demand. 

The production of wind power energy during the month of December has grown by 23.9% with respect to the same period last year, representing 19.2% of total generation. This percentage, together with hydroelectric and solar production, means that more than 34% of the total production in December was obtained from renewable energy sources. 

For 2009 as a whole, production obtained from renewable energy sources reached 26%. 

Maximum coverage of demand by wind power energy (30/12/09) 
Also, during the early hours of 30 December, a new record of wind power energy was reached. At 3:50 am wind power generation covered 54.1% of the demand. 

The high amount of wind power production that morning, together with the increased generation of hydroelectricity, as a consequence of the controlled reservoir discharges due to recent rains, obliged the Control Centre to reduce thermal production to the technical minimum. 

Due to the low demand at this particular time, this measure proved insufficient, which lead the Control Centre of Renewable Energies (Cecre) to give the order to reduce wind power generation between 4:00 and 7:00 am by 600 MW.

Demand coverage for December 


Demand coverage January to December 2009

 
*Negative values are due to being an exporter.