The green transition is advancing at an unstoppable pace in Castilla-La Mancha. This is reflected by the fact that 77.4% of the power generation fleet in Castilla-La Mancha uses natural resources such as wind, sun and water to produce electricity. The progress shown in renewable power capacity in the region has been one of the topics discussed between the President of the region, Emiliano García-Page, and the Chairwoman of Red Eléctrica, Beatriz Corredor, during the meeting they held this morning in Toledo with the aim of strengthening their mutual commitment to carry on working on actions in order to continue along the road towards the green transition.

Emiliano García-Page highlighted the region's capacity to attract investment in the field of renewable energy, which has made Castilla-La Mancha the second autonomous region nationwide in terms of solar photovoltaic energy production in 2020. He also highlighted the region’s leadership in the most developed technologies in the clean energy sector. "We are the leading region in installed solar photovoltaic power capacity, the second in wind energy capacity and the third in solar thermal power," he said.

For her part, Beatriz Corredor stressed that "Castilla-La Mancha is a great ally in helping to achieve the objectives set out in the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan and in which Red Eléctrica de España is directly involved in carrying it out". She also added: "this region counts on and can continue to count on us on its journey towards a greener and more prosperous economy".

The fact is that it is the region that is leading this process in Spain. In 2021, it consolidated its position as the third Spanish region with the highest level of installed renewable energy capacity. Specifically, these technologies ended the year representing 77.4% of its total energy generation capacity, surpassed only by Castilla y León and Extremadura.

Solar photovoltaic, with 977 MW of newly installed capacity throughout 2021, is the source that most increased its presence in Castilla-La Mancha's power generation fleet last year, 50.3% more than the previous year. However, wind power is still the technology with the highest installed power capacity in this region, with a share of 38.3% of the total production capacity. The overall installed power capacity in Castilla-La Mancha represents 11% of the national total.

Thanks to this momentum, last year more than half of the energy generated in the region (57.9%) came from renewable energy sources. Wind power, with 7,682 GWh, was the leading technology with a share of 33.2% of the electricity generation mix, closely followed by nuclear power, which reached a share of 31.9%, and solar photovoltaic, which increased its production by 21.2% compared to the previous year and produced 16.2% of the total mix.

Bolstering of the transmission grid

Red Eléctrica is firmly committed to the present and future of Castilla-La Mancha and this is demonstrated by the actions that the Company is carrying out in the region, which are contributing, among other aspects, to strengthening transmission grid meshing and thus bolster the quality of supply and developing new infrastructure that will enable the evacuation of renewable energy generation. Some of the noteworthy actions the Company is conducting in the region are the installation of a new 220 kilovolt (kV) transformer at the Olmedilla substation in Cuenca, the enlargement of almost twenty 220 and 400 kV substations -through the incorporation of new feeder bays- and the works to increase the power capacity of various lines that will strengthen the high voltage grid in the region.

Furthermore, the future transmission grid planning for 2026, currently in the approval phase, offers Castilla-La Mancha a good opportunity to boost the social and economic development in the region through new electricity transmission infrastructure. The developments foreseen that are currently included in the draft of this Plan lay the foundations for consolidating a sustainable energy model based on renewables. These developments will also be essential to help fully power the high-speed railway lines planned between Madrid and Badajoz and Puertolla-no and Mérida.

In this way, Red Eléctrica will actively continue to work to promote sustainability in the region, as economic growth will only be possible if there is social development and if it contributes to eliminating the many gaps that exist in our society. To this end, companies, governments and other economic and social agents have the obligation to carry out a fair transition for society at large by promoting constant communication with all stakeholders in the territory whilst actively addressing their needs on an ongoing basis.