Archive

Nuclear Park Generates 19.7% Of Spain’s Electricity

By David Dalton
16 July 2014

16 Jul (NucNet): Spain’s seven commercially operating power reactors generated 19.7 percent of the country’s total demand for electricity in 2013 and had an average availability factor of 89.4 percent, industry group Foro Nuclear said.

Foro Nuclear said nuclear’s 19.7 percent share of generation compared to 14.7 percent for coal, 11.8 percent for hydro and 19.3 percent for wind.

During 2013 six units were shut down for scheduled refueling outages and unscheduled outages were 3.1 percent, Foro Nuclear said. The single-unit Santa Maria de Garoña nuclear power station was officially shut down in July 2013 after the government imposed a retroactive tax on energy production and spent nuclear fuel.

The seven units generated a total of 56.7 terawatt hours. Nuclear’s installed capacity of 7.86 gigawatts accounted for 7.3 percent of the country’s total installed capacity, according to Foro Nuclear.

In terms of nuclear fuel, Spain exported 60 percent of the 351.5 tonnes of uranium (tU) it produced in 2013 and Spanish reactors consumed 178 tU. The main destinations for exported fuel were France, Belgium and Sweden.

Nuclear fuel in Spain is produced by Enusa at its production facility in the province of Salamanca.

Foro Nuclear said the internationalisation of Spain’s nuclear industry is a trend that has taken hold in recent years, helped by the growth of the global market, regulatory certainty and regulatory stability.

Foro Nuclear president Antonio Cornadó said nuclear energy helps achieve long-term security of supply with reliable fuel supply at “competitive and predictable prices”.

Foro Nuclear’s report is online:

http://www.foronuclear.org/publicacion-resultados-y-perspectivas-nucleares-para-2014

Pen Use this content

Related