Enel Green Power connects a 51 MW wind farm to the grid in Cuenca

Enel Green Power Spain has connected to the electricity grid a 51 MW wind farm in the town of Motilla del Palancar, in the Cuenca province. The investment associated with this project amounts to 51 million euros and it will reach an annual production of 144 GWh, avoiding the emissions of approximately 95,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.          

The development of this wind farm, made up of 17 wind turbines with a unit power of 3MW, has abided by Enel Green Power's "Sustainable Construction Site" model, which includes the installation of photovoltaic solar panels on each site to cover part of its waste separation energy needs and use of water storage tanks, among other things. Once the construction works are completed, both the photovoltaic panels and the water-saving equipment will be donated to the municipalities where the projects are located for public use.

A wide range of innovative tools and techniques have been used to build this wind farm, such as drones for topographic surveying, smart tracking of turbine components, advanced digital platforms and software solutions for monitoring and remote support of various activities as well as the commissioning of the facility. These solutions allow accurate and reliable data on these activities to be gathered quickly, enhancing overall construction quality and facilitating communication between teams both on- and off-site.

All renewable energies construction plans are accompanied by their corresponding CSV (Creating Shared Value) Plans. The CSV plans are designed together with the surrounding players and their ultimate goal is to maximise the socio-economic impact that the projects have on the community. Within the CSV plans priority is given, among other actions, to incorporating local labour, as well as locally hiring catering services and workers' accommodation.

In the specific case of Motilla del Palancar, the actions included within the Enel Green Power CSV Plan designed in collaboration with local authorities to establish priority actions, consist of:

• 3.2kW photovoltaic donation (solar panels, inverter, batteries, protections and auxiliary components) that will be located in the Municipal Scale.
• Replacement of 100 light points from public lighting to LED in some of the town's streets.
• Efficient lighting of the football field, through installing LED projectors, in the field's four lighting columns.

The execution of these projects will entail significant cost savings on the municipality's electricity bill by improving energy efficiency. Furthermore, the employment of local companies selected by the City Council has been prioritised.

In addition, within these CSV actions, to improve the employability of the inhabitants of the area, a 90-hour course on Maintenance and Operation of renewable energy plants has been taught, in which 17 people have participated.

The construction of this renewable capacity is part of Enel Green Power strategy to fully decarbonise its generation mix by 2050. According to the company's strategic plan, the next milestone is to achieve 10.2 GW of renewable energy installed capacity by 2022, up from the 7.4 GW for the end of 2019, with a total investment of 3.8 billion euros.