Renewable energies are clean and almost inexhaustible resources provided by nature. Their indigenous character contributes to reducing the country’s dependence on external supplies, reduces the risk of a poorly diversified supply and favours the development of new technologies and the creation of employment.
Spain produced 43.6% of its electricity with renewable energy technologies in the year to December 11, Spanish grid operator Red Electrica de España (REE) said in the summary of its 2020 forecast report. Castilla y León generates 15.9% more renewable energy and consolidates its leadership nationwide in 2020.
Renewable energies and sustainability
University of Burgos
May 7th to 14th
Course coordinator: Professor José Manuel González Marín
The main goal of this course is to offer a general vsion and panorama of renewable energies in Spain and to make known the current Spanish framework for energy, which climate is based on the 2050 objectives of national climate neutrality, 100% renewable energy in the electricity mix and 97% renewable energy in the total energy mix. As such, it is centred on the massive development of renewable energy, particularly solar and wind; energy efficiency; electrification; and renewable hydrogen. This is seen as an opportunity to stimulate the economy; create jobs; modernise industry; enhance competitiveness; support vulnerable groups; improve energy security; and support research, development and innovation.
The course will have an eminently practical component, with multiple visits to electric companies and companies for which sustainability is one of its pillars. This course will help you learn, apply, and master the skills needed to create a better and more sustainable tomorrow.
What types of renewable energy stand out in Spain?
Due to its geography, Spain has three strengths to develop the renewable energies of the future. From areas of high mountains and long stretches of plateau, where the wind can supply electricity to several towns, to places where the sun shines almost all year round, or powerful rivers from which to extract electricity. For all these reasons, three clean models are established that can become the basis for obtaining energy and the pillar of a new economic model that cares for the environment.
Wind energy: When travelling by road within the national territory it is not strange to find (and more often) gigantic windmills that form huge wind farms and use the wind to generate electricity. Wind energy has been established in the country for many years, but it is now, thanks to the measures of PINEC, that it is experiencing its true boom. Its operation is also relatively simple: wind energy is obtained by converting the movement of the blades of the wind turbine into electrical energy. This energy then travels to a distribution substation which finally delivers the electricity to the user. Currently, all the autonomous regions, except Madrid, have a wind farm. With 23,484 MW of accumulated power, "wind energy in Spain has been the second source of generation in 2018. Spain is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of installed wind power capacity, after China, the United States, Germany and India", as stated by the Spanish Wind Energy Association (AEE).
Cogeneration: This is probably the most unfamiliar term to most citizens. Cogeneration is defined as the joint production, in a sequential process, of mechanical and/or electrical energy and useful thermal energy, i.e. the simultaneous production of two or more types of energy. A cogeneration plant usually consists of reciprocating engines, gas or steam turbines, which transform the energy contained in the fuel into mechanical energy and waste or exhaust heat. The mechanical energy is usually transformed into electrical energy through an alternator (this is the most common case), and the waste heat can be recovered in the form of water vapour, hot water, thermal oils and hot gases, as heat-carrying fluids and arranged for their thermal applications, explain the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE), a public business entity attached to the Ministry for Ecological Transition, through the State Secretariat for Energy.
Solar energy: Spain is a country of sunshine, especially in the southern half of the country. That is why solar energy is a safe bet within the framework of renewable energies of the future. Photovoltaic solar energy takes advantage of solar radiation by transforming it directly into electrical energy, through the photovoltaic effect, which consists of the emission of electrons by a material when it is illuminated with electromagnetic radiation (in this case solar radiation). "Spain has a large potential for the development of solar thermal energy, with an average of 2,500 hours of sunshine guaranteed per year. The low cloudiness, low environmental humidity, dry climate and the incidence of solar rays mean that our country obtains enviable direct radiation values", states the latest report prepared by the IDAE.
What is the future of renewable energies in Spain?
More than 43% of the energy produced in Spain comes from renewable energy sources; Spain has made a strong commitment to energy transition in the last year. The decarbonization of the industrial sector, as well as the proliferation of the use of renewable energies, is a challenge for the great professionals who operate within the national territory
The main objective of the energy transition is the decarbonization of the economy and the adaptation and development of a strategic model that is more responsible with the environment, through the promotion and research of the renewable energies of the future. Spain has set itself an ambitious goal: by 2030, 42% of the energy produced in the country must come from renewable energy sources. A project included in the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PINEC) 2021-2030. In short, it is the state's contribution to the European commitment signed in the Paris Agreement of 2016, which establishes measures for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
The country has sufficient resources to carry out an effective energy transition, although it is true that in some mining communities, such as Asturias, whose economy is based on coal extraction, this initiative must be carried out in a careful and studied way, since it is a total change of the current economic model.
Course schedule
Saturday, May 7th
- 10:00 meeting point Barajas Airport – terminal 1
- 10:00 – 13:00 Transfer Madrid airport to Residencia Universitaria Burgos Centro. C/ Calera 17, 09002 Burgos
- 13:00 accommodation and lunch
- 16:30 meeting point (University hall) to go to the cathedral
- 17:00 – 17:30 guided visit to the Cathedral and surroundings
- 21:00 dinner at university residence
Sunday, May 8th
- 08:45 bus to Lerma
- 09:30 – 10:30 guided visit to the town of Lerma
- 11:15 bus to cellars
- 12:00 to 13:30 guided visit to Portia cellars – Ribera del Duero
- 13:30 bus back to Burgos
- 14:30 lunch at university residence
- 17:00
Monday, May 9th
- 08:30 Bus to L’Oréal
- 09:00 – 11:30 guided visit to Biocen Thrigeneration Thermic Central, L’Oréal
- 11:30 Bus to Chamber of Commerce
- 12:00 – 13:00 meeting with Chamber of Commerce
- 14:30 Lunch at faculty of Business
- 16:30 Official welcome by University of Burgos Vice-Chancellor for Internationalization and Cooperation, Ileana M. Greca Dufranc (Salón de Grados) and Professor José Manuel González Marín, Course Coordinator
- 16:45 Seminar with Professor Luis Marcos Naveira, Director of the University Green Office, and Professor David Blanco Alcántara, Financial Economics and Corporate Accounting (Circular Economy)
- 09:00 dinner at university residence
Tuesday, May 10th
- 09:00 bus to Vallejera wind farm
- 09:45 – 13:00 Wind farm visit
- Bus back to University
- 14.30 lunch at faculty of Business
- 16:00 guided visit to Monasterio de las Huelgas
- 19:00 – 20:30 seminar with Mr. Abel Porras Braceras. Freelance Consultant, Interpreter and International Manager (Wind farms impact)
- 21:00 dinner at university residence
Wednesday, May 11th
- 07:00 bus to Aldeávila Hydroelectric Plant (Salamanca)
- 12:00 – 13:30 guided visit to the Hydroelectric plant
- 13:30 – 15:30 lunch (picnic)
- 15:30 bus to Hervás
- 18:00- 19:30 free visit to Hervás (medieval historic town)
- 19:30 bus to Cáceres
- 21: 00 Accommodation , Hotel Soho-Boutique Casa Don Fernando. Plaza Mayor 30, 10003 Cáceres
- 21:30 dinner
Thursday, May 12th
- 09:30 – 11:30 guided tour to old city of Cáceres
- 13:00 bus to Mérida
- 14:30 time for lunch
- 16:00 – 18:00 guided visit to Museum, Roman Theatre and Amphitheater
- 18:30 bus to Seville
- 21:00 accommodation and dinner. Residencia Universitaria Camplus. C/ Tramontana, 1, 41012 Sevilla
Friday, May 13th
- 09:30 bus to Sanlúcar la Mayor Thermosolar plant.
- 10:00 – 12:00 Thermosolar visit
- Free time
- 09:00 dinner at university residence
Saturday, May 14th
- 07:00 bus to Madrid
- 14:00 accommodation at hotel. Hotel Silken Puerta Madrid. C/ Juan Rizi, 5, 28027 Madrid
- 16:00 Subway to Museo del Prado
- 17:00 – 18:30 guided visit to the Prado Museum