Iberdrola advances green recovery by commissioning first major wind complex in Spain since the health crisis

Iberdrola has begun operating its Cavar wind power complex in the Spanish region of Navarre, the first major wind farm commissioned in Spain since the health crisis. With an installed capacity of 111 megawatts (MW), it is also the company's largest wind farm built in Spain since 2012. Just in time for World Environment Day, Iberdrola makes progress towards a green recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

According to Ignacio Galán, the Chairman and CEO of the Iberdrola group, this complex, which is already pumping clean energy into the grid, “is a great example of our potential to create jobs and drive prosperity if we pursue a low-carbon economy and steer our investments towards promising sectors, such as renewables, smart grids and energy storage.”

In fact, constructing the Cavar complex, which took 12 months to complete, has generated over €80 million worth procurement from suppliers, many of which are based in the nearby towns and surrounding area. Practically all of the civil work and the components used to build the wind turbines (towers, blades, nacelles, generators and multipliers) were manufactured in Navarre, Asturias, Cantabria, Soria and Burgos, all in northern Spain.

Developed jointly by Iberdrola and Caja Rural de Navarra, the Cavar wind power complex comprises four wind farms with 32 SG 3.4-132 turbines located in two municipalities in Navarre: Cadreita and Valtierra. Building and commissioning the complex has required an investment of over €100 million, backed by green finance from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

This new facility will generate as much clean energy as would annually be used by approximately 45,000 households (around 25% of the population of Pamplona) thus preventing 84,000 tonnes of CO₂ from being released into the atmosphere every year.

Furthermore, in line with their pledge to protect biodiversity, Iberdrola and Caja Rural are closely monitoring several adult specimens of Egyptian vulture who nest in the vicinity of the complex and have been equipped with GPS location systems to help track them during migration. Thanks to new telemetric techniques, this will provide precise insight on the way the reproductive population of this species uses space at a regional level.

Renewables, a lever for the recovery of jobs and the economy

The commissioning of Cavar means another step forward in Iberdrola's investment plan which will reach €10 billion in 2020, nearly double the average of the last five years. Electrification will act as a lever for the recovery of jobs and the economy in the post-COVID landscape, as it will generate industrial activity through the entire energy value chain.

In Spain, Iberdrola is the leader in renewable energy, with an installed wind capacity of more than 6,000 MW and over 16,500 MW in renewables as a whole; totalling more than 32,000 MW worldwide and making its generation facilities among the cleanest in the energy sector.