Sustainable Energy in
Castilla y León

Bicycle rental system. © EREN

Located in the north west of Spain, Castilla y León borders on nine regions in Spain and Portugal. Castilla y León borders on Asturias and Cantabria to the north; Aragon, the Basque Country, and La Rioja to the east; the autonomous community of Madrid and Castile-La Mancha to the southeast; Extremadura to the south; and Portugal and Galicia to the west. Its location makes Castilla y León an important communication hub at the Spanish and European level in the central axis of the Continental Diagonal. This strategic location endorses the regional policy of development of infrastructures that Castilla y León is undertaking.

Castilla y León is the largest region of all the European Union. The elevated plain is limited by the the mountain ranges Sistema Iberico to the east, Cordillera Central to the south, Cordillera Cantabrica to the north and by Duero river towards Portugal. Is is divided into nine provinces. The city of Valladolid is where the autonomous government sits.

The executive of Castile and León is known as the Junta de Castilla y León.

The two most prosperous and industrialized provinces, Valladolid and Burgos, exceed the national per capita GDP.

Some 92,600 people work in the primary sector in Castilla y León, about 10 percent of employment in the region. There is 5 percent unemployment in this sector in agriculture and livestock.

In the secondary sector, mining should be underlined as one of the most important activities in the Community.

The tertiary sector employees 63 percent of the work force of Castilla y León, mostly in the tourism industry which increased throughout the 1990s.

Castilla y León is a region traditionally known for its wide potential of coal and other traditional energy resources. The province of León and north of Palencia are two main mining areas in the country.

Its important water resources have also been energetically exploited, and currently 42.312 MW are installed in 33 hydropower plants.

Renewable energy sources in all its technical areas are strongly developed: hydropower, biomass, wind energy, solar thermal energy, solar photovoltaics and geothermical energy.

Publications about Energy in Castilla y León can be found on the EREN website [ES - Español].

Regional government is completely committed to renewable energies development, which is compatible with the traditional energy sources. Since 1996, wind power has been a priority for the region, which developed the first Wind Energy Plan in Europe with a target of 10000 MW installed for the whole region. The current figures certify already a total of 7035 MW (4910 installed, 343 MW under construction and 1782 MW with administrative authorization).

From 2002, the region has also been developing a Regional Solar Energy Plan which aims to achieve a surface of 76.229 square meters installed and 423 MW of photovoltaic energy.

Now, the region priority is Bioenergy with a main objective of multiplying by 4 the current potential biomass resources in the Region. That means 4700 new employees, investments of more than 2.712 M€ and 2,2 million tonnes of CO₂ avoided.

With 200 small hydropower plants with 300 MW installed and wind power installed facilities of 7000 MW,  Castilla y León is in first place for renewable power installed in Spain.

Sustainable Energy Action Plans include:

• Energy Saving and Efficiency Plan of Castilla y León
• Solar Energy Regional Plan
• Wind Energy Regional Plan
• Bioenergy Regional Plan

A number of Municipalities in the region have joined the Covenant of Mayors.

Interaction with other initiatives at the Regional, National or European level:

EREN and Castilla y León are involved in the following EU projects:

• ECCC - European Citizens Climate Cup
• RENREN - The Renewable ENergy Regions Network
• BIO-EN-AREA: Improve regional policies for bioenergy and territorial development
• BIOURB
• RENERPATH
• Mobility Management for Business and Industrial Zones (MoMa.BIZ)
• Regional Strategy for the Electric Vehicle Development