Biomass, firm candidate to replace nuclear in Spain

Biomass copes with biomass

The biomass sector continues its particular struggle to obtain the support of the Government in order to occupy the place that "we deserve" in the national energy mix and that "we could not achieve with the previous Government." They consider that biomass -like biogas- has become a "fundamental element" to promote the circular economy and should be considered "key technology" to achieve the objectives of the future Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition, when dealing with from a "renewable source, one hundred percent manageable, which has demonstrated the economic, social and environmental benefits it brings to the country."

The biomass sector wants the input of this technology as base load energy for the system and as a backup for non-manageable renewables - wind and solar - in order to guarantee a firm supply that, right now, "is being provided by the nuclear energy". Spain currently has five nuclear power plants in operation, with seven operating reactors, which add a total installed power of 7.117 megawatts. In 2017, nuclear was the technology that had the greatest weight in the peninsular generation, with a share of 22,4 per cent and the one with the most weight in 2018. According to the last monthly report of Red Eléctrica, corresponding to the month of September, the contribution of nuclear in the first nine months of the year has been 21,7 percent.

Source and full article in: Energy The Economist num.69
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