News Release from JUWI GmbH
Wind Industry Profile of
Costa Rica Wind Farm Completed On Schedule
The 15.3 MW wind farm uses 17 Enercon E-44 900 kW wind turbines and will
generate enough electricity to power approximately 15,000 homes, the
company says. Despite many logistical challenges, the wind project was
connected to the grid on schedule, notes Alejandro Lobo-Guerrero,
managing director of juwi Energias Renovables in Costa Rica.
“The
construction of the wind farm was no easy task,” he says. “Construction
work took place during the rainy season. Given that the wind farm is
situated on top of the hills, the roads were slippery, steep and
difficult to access.”
If you fly to Costa Rica and look out of
the airplane window as you approach San José you can see them shining in
the sun: the 17 Enercon E-44s of juwi’ s Eólico Valle Central wind
farm. In the past few months, juwi Energias Renovables, a subsidiary of
the German juwi group, completed a 15.3 megawatt project about 1,800
meters above sea level near the Costa Rican capital. Prospectively, it
will generate eco-friendly electricity for approximately 15,000 local
households. On December 13, President Laura Chinchilla will officially
inaugurate the wind farm.
‘The construction of the wind farm was
no easy task. Construction work took place during the rainy season.
Given that the wind farm is situated on top of the hills, the roads were
slippery, steep and difficult to access. That’s why we are particularly
proud of the project,’ says Alejandro Lobo-Guerrero, Managing Director
of juwi Energias Renovables in Costa Rica.
Despite all logistical
obstacles: juwi connected the wind farm to the grid today, as
scheduled. The 17 Enercon E44s have a capacity of 900 kilowatts each.
Thanks to the excellent wind conditions, 37 million kilowatt hours of
clean electricity can be harvested annually. This is a major boost in
Costa Rica’s climate objectives: The wind farm reduces greenhouse gas
emissions by 43,000 tons per year. Costa Rica’s ambition is to have 100
percent renewable energies by 2021.
juwi won the public tender in
2009 as part of a consortium, the two local partners are the
construction companies BC & Asociados Marshall as well as MECO. The
Eólico Valle Central wind farm is juwi’s second flagship project in
Costa Rica. ‘Exactly three years ago, we connected the Windpark Planta
Eólica Guanacaste to the grid. Back then, it was the most powerful wind
farm in Costa Rica with an installed capacity of 49.5 megawatts,’ says
Lobo-Guerrero. The 55 wind turbines produce electricity for 70,000
households. ‘We are happy to energetically assist Costa Rica in
transforming its energy supply. An energy supply based on one hundred
percent renewable energies guarantees sustainability, price stability
and security,’ he adds.
The owner and operator of the wind farm
is Eólico Valle Central S.A., a company founded for the project by CNFL
(Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz), a subsidiary of the largest Costa
Rican producer and distributor of electricity ICE (Instituto
Costarricense de Electricidad), and BCIE, the Central American Bank for
Economic Integration.
Business activities for the growing markets
in Central America and the Caribbean will be coordinated from the juwi
subsidiary ‘juwi Energías Renovables – Centro América y el Caribe, Ltda.
in San José, Costa Rica. Since September 2012 juwi Costa Rica also
coordinates the construction of a wind farm in Rivas, Nicaragua.
For
more information on this article or if you would like to know more
about what www.windfair.net can offer, please do not hesitate to contact
Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net
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- Source:
- Juwi
- Author:
- Trevor Sievert, Online Editorial Journalist
- Email:
- info@juwi.de
- Link:
- www.juwi.de/...
- Keywords:
- Windpark