The first wind farms in Spain: where they were installed and when

Although wind energy is now one of the mainstays of the energy transition and, therefore, a cutting-edge technology, the truth is that the history of wind energy is quite long and comprehensive. The use of wind dates back thousands of years, when windmills were used to grind grain or access water. In the 19th century, its potential for generating electricity was successfully tested, but it was not until the 20th century that wind farms became popular and were effectively integrated into the energy mix.

The first modern wind farm was installed in 1981 in the United States. The first in Europe was built in 1982 on the Greek island of Kythnos. In all these cases, they were onshore wind farms, because offshore wind farms had to wait another decade to begin testing. But where did the wind energy adventure begin in Spain?

The beginnings of wind power were experimental. ‘We were doing this more out of principle than anything else, because it didn’t make us any money,’ Alberto Ceña, now a technical advisor to the Wind Energy Business Association and one of those pioneers in the use of wind power, told the newspaper El Mundo years later. ‘I was 25 years old; we were the hippie engineers,’ he jokes.

Even so, the truth is that Spain did not wait long to test the potential of wind power in the country. Although some sources place the first wind turbine installed in the country in Tarifa (Cádiz) in 1984, it is more common to locate the beginnings of wind energy in Spain in Catalonia. It was in this autonomous community where wind turbines began to be manufactured and the first wind farm was installed.

The pioneering Garriguella Park

Both milestones were recorded in 1984. The first wind turbine was connected to the Catalan electricity grid in March 1984 from Vilopriu (Girona), in an alegal manner, as sources discussing the history of this milestone now recall. There were still no specific regulations on wind energy. It was the Eco 12/15 wind turbine, the first manufactured in Spain (by the company Ecotècnia, which had been founded in 1980), and it was much smaller and had much more modest capabilities than today’s wind turbines. The tower was 10 metres high and the wind turbine had a power output of 15 kW.

It was also in the province of Girona where the first wind farm was opened, in Garriguella. Its energy generation capacity was very limited: as noted in a report celebrating its 40th anniversary, the capacity of the entire wind farm was equivalent to 2.4% of what an average wind turbine can generate today. The diameter of the blades at that time was a modest 12 metres.

At that time, the Garriguella farm generated enough electricity to meet the energy needs of around 60 people. This pioneering farm closed in 1988 because the wind in the area where it had been built was not constant.

In the 1980s, other wind farms were opened in Tenerife, Albacete and Cádiz. In the 1990s, wind power became more widespread, and autonomous communities such as Galicia, Castile and León, and Andalusia saw wind farms and wind turbines become part of their landscapes. Spain has, in fact, become one of the world’s leading producers of wind energy.