Repowering: An actual possibility for wind energy in Spain in a new scenario without feed-in-tariffs

Abstract

At the end of January 2012, the Spanish government suspended the economic incentives for electricity generation facilities using renewable energy sources, including wind energy plants.Spain maintains a high level of energy dependence that can only be reduced by applying measures to increase energy efficiency and using massive amounts of renewable sources. In addition, the target assumed by Spain, i.e., to have at least 20% of the primary energy to be supplied by renewable sources by 2020, has not yet been reached.In Spain, wind farms, a number of which have been in commercial operation for over 15 years, offer a broad market appropriate for repowering. The use of more efficient wind turbines by means of repowering provides benefits to the electricity sector as a whole by optimizing the use of natural resources and facilitating the grid integration of the energy generated.This paper analyses existing wind farms to quantify and characterize the market suitable for repowering. We discuss whether repowering is a valid alternative from the point of view of feasibility to enable the continuation of the integration of wind energy in the Spanish energy mix and whether this feasibility is sufficient when the energy generated is charged at the electricity market price in terms of grid parity. The results support that repowering is a profitable alternative and is often even better than the construction of new wind farms under certain conditions.