The energy sector in Galicia

Galicia retains a very balanced energy system, with an elevated strategic value, equal to and reflected by, its considerable share of 8% of GDP. This economic and enterprising wedge is one of the core sources of employment, maintaining 10,500 positions and 22,000 associated workers, demonstrating the importance of this industrial framework and services.

	Spain (MW)	Galicia (MW)	% Galicia versus the rest of Spain
Normal regime installations
Hydraulic Nuclear Coal Fuel/Gas	17.004               7.597             10.982             26.786	2.876      0      1.946       539	16,9    0   17,7    2,0
Total normal regime	62.369	5.361	8,6

Special regime installations
Non renewable Solar Eolic Hydraulic Biomass Residual material	6.466             95             11.125             1.771              527             589	522        1,98        2.621        412         50         67	8,1    2,1     23,6     23,3     9,5     11,4
Total special regime	20.571	3.647	17,9
Total	82.940	9.035	10,9

These figures and a comparative study of the Galician population and surface, relative to the Spanish, demonstrate that this community occupies a strategic place in an essential sector for a country’s development. A detailed analysis of the 9,035 MW of power installed in the four Galician provinces, reflects the important distribution of the technologies implemented to facilitate the delivery of energy to the market for the consumer.

For production during normal regime, Galicia employs hydraulics and thermals, in the case of special regime, cogeneration installations, wind, mini-hydraulics, biomass and residuals are used.

Galicia has a high energy transformation capacity, which is to say that her transformation infrastructure not only works using local resources, but also with natural resources coming from outside, including oil refined products. Galicia possesses a diversified and strong energy production system, with a clear capacity to respond to present market demand.

	Spain (MW)	Galicia (MW)	% Galicia versus the rest of Spain
Normal regime installations
Hydraulic Nuclear Coal Petroleum products Natural Gas	2.178 5.171 5.784 1.485 5.695	572 0 1.103 64 0	26,3 0 19,1 4,3 0
Total normal regime	20.313	1.739	8,6

Special regime installations
Natural gas Petroleum products Coal Hydraulic Eolic Biomass, residual                                  Photovoltaic solar	2.070 564 44 359 1.980 718 15	71 90 0 106 533 51 0	3’4 16’0 0,0 29’5 26’9 7,1 1,3
Total special regime	5.749	851	14,8
Total gross electric generation	26.062	2.590	9,9
Electric generation from renewable	5.250	1.262	24’0
Electric generation from coal	5.828	1.103	18’9

Source: INEGA

The strategy followed by the Galician Government is to try to avoid raising dependency, encouraging, instead, development, installation and use of renewable sources, propagating a scenario that meets the recommendations following the Kyoto summit. Management of a country’s energy resources is a key factor in enterprise growth and, subsequently, its economic activity. This, in tandem with sustainable development, is the responsibility of public politicians in looking for an equal balance between economic growth and environmental respect.

The technological advances associated with social evolution translate into energy demand growth.  This implies a necessary improvement in the energy infrastructure: Generation, transport and distribution. The significant environmental impacts associated with the sector, however, require the development of energy policies that consider the environment as key. Accordingly, they must look for compromise solutions to achieve these aims: Security in the reduction and management of the energy cycle environmental impact, and, above all, to reach the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol.

A part of the solution will be to make the drive of renewables compatible with the conventional sources, introducing, in the case of the latter, efficient methods that limit its contaminating capacity, to meet new environmental accords. The importance of conventional energy is demonstrated in the use of combustible fossil fuels in Galician primary energy, close to some 86%. On a world scale, energy products of fossil origin represent over 80% of the primary energy. This clearly shows that transport, together with energy directed to produce heat and electricity, are the core areas of combustible fossil fuel consumption.