Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Hydropower Country Notes

Spain

In terms of hydro-electric resources, Spain stands in the middle rank of West European countries, with a gross theoretical capability of about 150 TWh/yr. Along with this level, the Spanish WEC Member Committee reports that some 65 600 GWh/yr is considered to be technically exploitable, of which 31 600 (48%) is classed as economically exploitable at present. The level of hydro-electricity generation in 2005 (23 215 GWh) indicates that Spain has already harnessed a considerable proportion of its economic hydro resources.

Provisional data for end-2005 show that small-scale HPPs had a total generating capacity of 1 788 MW, and that their output in 2004 was 4 729 GWh. During the period 2005-2010 some 450 MW of small hydro capacity is scheduled to be added, eventually providing incremental output of around 1 271 GWh/yr.