Regulatory and policy options to encourage development of ...

MODULE 9: RENEWABLE ENERGY: REGULATORY AND POLICY OPTIONSpage 9.651. INTRODUCTIONSpain is the country that has seen the greatest expansion of wind energy utilizationof recent years. Spain currently has the second largest installed capacity ofelectricity generated from wind, with a capacity of 5780 MW installed by late2003, with the large majority of this expansion occurring since 1995. The mainexpansion of Spain’s wind generation occurred following the introduction of atariff mechanism in 1994. The level of this expansion is demonstrated in table 1:Table 1.Spanish installed wind turbine capacityYearMW1995 1151996 2211997 5121998 8341999 15302000 20992001 33352002 4830Late 2003 5780Spain began the 1990s with a stated target for further installation of wind energyequal to 275 MW of capacity to be in place by 2000. This objective was exceededin 1997. The current target for wind in Spain is to have 8974 MW installed by2010, as part of the effort to reach the 12 per cent target for renewable energyset by the European Union (McGovern 2000). In general, estimates of likely ratesof expansion have fallen short of the actual rates. The IEA, for example, expectedthat installed capacity could be as high as 750 MW by 2000 in a report publishedin 1998 (IEA, 1998), the same year that figure was actually exceeded.2. GOVERNANCE OF SPANISH POLICYResponsibility for Spanish policy relating to renewable energy lies with theInstitute for the Diversification and Conservation of Energy, (Instituto para laDiversificación y Ahorro de la Energía—IDAE), a “semi-autonomous” organizationoperated through the Ministry of Industry.