What do “bad” and “good” weather have in common for renewable energy?

The answer is energy. Whether a windy winter day or a sunny summer day, with the appropriate technology, we can take advantage of what nature has to offer.

We have an excellent example coming recently from Spain. Maybe when many of you think about Spain (or maybe not), images of sunny days in a countryside or a sea landscape come to your mind. Well, the issue is that not all days in Spain are sunny – lucky us!

According to yesterday’s news from Spain’s national energy distribution company, wind powergeneration reached a peak of 6 TWh in the last 29 days–a worldwide record. That would be enough to supply energy during a year for a country sized of Honduras or Bolivia. Even more, the data of the last three months shows that during last quarter, wind energy has become the main source of energy in Spain´s energy mix. This reflects the viability of a future energy system-efficient and CO₂ saving-based on renewable power supply.

But windy days are an opportunity as well as a challenge. To get reliable power from the unpredictable nature, we need the technologies that guarantee grid stabilization once this renewable energy starts to play its role on the energy mix.

Fortunately, solutions for grid stabilization are not science fiction. Nowadays, we have these technologies available. They include solutions for energy storage like PowerStore^TM that balances the needs of power generation and demand. Another solution is smart networks, built up with state of the art control, communications, and IT technologies and capable of efficiently handling peaks in power generation. This allows countries like Spain to integrate renewables in our energy mix, in a safe way for the whole system.

These is more good news for all of us: One of the latest EU Commission surveys shows that 70% of the European citizens think that we should prioritize renewables as an energy source in the next 30 years. Even more, in countries like Germany, Spain and Portugal, this percentage is higher still, which demonstrates that the popular call for this kind of energy is louder day by day.