More than 20 years spinning on Monte Forgoselo: a success of coexistence between the renewable and the agricultural

Coexistence between the livestock and agricultural sector and renewable energy is possible. An example is the experience that has been developed over decades on Mount Forgoselo, in A Coruña. There, the windmills have been living with farmers and ranchers for more than 20 years. Some benefit from others a balance that represents one of the main challenges of the energy transition.

The setting is enviable, the Fragas do Eume Natural Park, between the municipalities of A Capela and Sano Sadurniño. There, the cattle graze freely in a territory with 37 windmills.

“The production of energy would be equivalent to the annual consumption of some 19,000 families and avoids the emission of close to 9,000 tons of CO2 per year”, explains Francisco Castelos, responsible for the technical management of Iberdrola’s Monte Forgoselo Park.

Thanks to the forest tracks of the wind farm, can control the 350 cows of the neighborhood association. It is told by Alejandro Souto, manager of the Monte Forgoselo Neighborhood Association, who points out the ease with which they now always access these lands, even in the snow. In addition, the wind farm pays the associations, neighbors or the owners of the mountain a fee for using their land. “It brings an economic benefit for the association, an improvement of the facilities and having the ability to continue investing to improve,” says Beatriz García, director of the Monte Forgoselo Neighborhood Association.

For Castelos, it is also a “a way of contributing to the development of the rural area and helping it, for example, to determine the population”. Although there were misgivings among the neighbors with the installation of this park, 22 years later there are many who live off the wind. And it is that for Souto the relationship of reciprocity is clear. “The people who work in maintenance or in the substation are almost always people from the area,” he explains, stressing the importance of “seeing that the jobs stay here.” And meanwhile, the blades keep turning.

Renewable energy and decarbonization

Renewable energy sources are the way to build a decarbonized economy. In 2021, in fact, and according to data from Red Eléctrica de España, these technologies already accounted for 48.4% of the electricity produced in the country. A very important advance that is in line with the goals set by the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law approved in 2021, which has set the objective that the electrical system generate 74% of energy with renewables in 2030 and, in 2050, achieve decarbonization.

In order to reach this objective, it is necessary to continue betting on the increase in the production capacity of renewable energy. Spain is the country in the world with the most hours of sunshine in Europe, with more than 2,500 hours per year. Something very beneficial for the production of photovoltaic energy. The wind is also another abundant resource, so much so that Wind energy accounted for 23.3% of the energy consumed last year.

There are currently more than 62,000 photovoltaic installations and almost 1,300 wind farms in Spain. A not insignificant figure, but it is still not enough to feed the country’s energy demand. The development of this type of technology, then, is crucial to continue advancing in the decarbonisation of the electricity system and also to reduce dependence on fossil fuels such as gas.