User:Bouchecl/sandbox
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<The electricity sector in Spain is competitive since the opening of a national electricity market on January 1, 1998, and its expansion throughout the Iberian Peninsula with the opening of MIBEL, on July 1, 2007.[1] The market is now dominated by three large utilities, whose combined output represents nearly 80% of the total. With 31% of production and 33% of the installed capacity in 2009, Iberdrola has become the largest operator in the country, and one of the largest power companies in the world.[2] Endesa, now a subsidiary of the Italian group Enel (29% of production) ranks second, while Unión Fenosa bought by the gas giant Gas Natural in early 2009 ends up in third place with 21% of the national production.[3] This concentration is also observed in the distribution sector, where those three companies account for 94% of the market, leaving a tiny share for the remaining 326 local distributors.[4]
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Since the introduction of electricity in Barcelona and Madrid early in the second half of the 19th century, the industry has experienced several episodes of growth and decline, phases of laissez-faire followed by periods of interventionist policies as well as waves of concentration, moving the sector towards its current oligopolistic state. Each of these phases is characterized by the rise of a type of generation: hydroelectricity dominates during the first half of the 20th century, replaced by oil-fired and nuclear generation to meet the rapidly increasing demand of the Spanish miracle era. With the 1973 oil crisis begins a decade of turmoil for the Spanish electricity sector. Fuel availability and high prices forces utilities to diversify, by building coal-fired units and nuclear power stations, until the government implements a moratorium on new nuclear builds in 1984. Spain embraced wind power early and enthusiastically and became a world leader, while combined cycle gas turbines quickly became the new backbone of the industry.
In, 2008 Spain consumed electricity 88% compared to the European Union 15 average. Spain exported about 3% of the produced electricity in 2009. The volume of renewable electricity rose 5% shares of the electricity use in 2009 compared to 2004 and was about 26% of the electricity use in 2009. The share of nuclear power declined notably between 2004 and 2005. The volume of nuclear power pro person has declined smoothly during 2004-2009.