Portuguese wind energy project calls on GE Energy

GE Energy will not let a U.S. downturn in the wind energy market slow it down. Instead the company is using its massive corporate reach to secure wind power projects abroad. Most recently the company secured a contract to supply nine of its 1.5 MW wind turbines for the Parque Eýlico de Alagoa de Cima project, a new wind farm located in northwestern Portugal, 39 kilometers from the Spanish border. This is the second international wind project for GE Energy in as many weeks. The company recently entered the Indian market through the 27 MW Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd. Wind Power Project.

The new project in Portugal will support the country's initiative to increase the country's installed wind power capacity to 3,750 MW by the year 2010. By the end of 2003, a total of 300 MW of wind-generated capacity had been installed in the country. The wind initiative is part of the country's policy for developing renewable energy ("Politica de desenvolvimento de Energias Renovaveis em Portugal"), which states that by 2010, more than 39 percent of the country's energy will come from renewable sources, including wind. This policy exceeds a European Union goal that member nations obtain at least 12 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2010.

The new, 13.5 MW capacity wind farm will be owned by Eýlica de Alagoa SA, a project company comprised of Novas Energýas SA, (Enernova), Hidroelýctrica Galaico-Portuguesa and the Muncipal Chamber of Arcos de Valdevez. Enernova is the renewable energy unit of Electricidade de Portugal (EDP), the largest electric utility in Portugal and one of Europe's major electricity operators. EDP will purchase the power from the new wind farm.