Spain is inspecting renewable-energy installations suspected of claiming they started producing electricity before they actually entered service.
The National Energy Commission will probe wind-turbine stations said to have begun generating power in the final months of 2007, the regulator said yesterday in a statement. The ministry of industry asked that solar-energy parks likewise be investigated, said a ministry spokesman who declined to be named.
Wind generators, which supply about 11 percent of Spain's power, and solar stations earn premium rates that are being scaled back. The generators have an incentive to get their stations operating as soon as possible to get the better price which, in the case of photovoltaic stations, lasts 25 years.
More than 100 million euros ($127 million) may be at stake, the Expansion newspaper reported today, using calculations from government and industry documents.
