NEWS

NICARAGUA: First wind farm is almost finished.

In Nicaragua, the first wind power project is under construction; it will generate 40 MW, will cost around 95 million dollars, and will have 19 wind turbines in total, in an area of 400 hectares.

It is hoped that it will be finished by November, since currently has 4 turbines already installed, and each of them will produce 2.1MW. The Wind Farm is located in the 128th kilometer of the Southern Pan-American Highway, in Rivas. Basically, the execution of the project began on last December, with the excavation and construction of the bases for the turbines; though, the Amayo farm started to be planned since 1999, when they carried out the wind resource assessment.

The project has an investment of 95 million dollar, which were acquired by a loan of 71.25 million dollars from the BCIE and investors of Guatemala, USA and also Nicaragua. The foreign investors are: CENTRANS ENERGY (Guatemala), ARCTAS CAPITAL (USA).

One of the highlights of this project is that the substitution of 40 MW of thermal energy to renewable energy means the reduction of 137 thousand tons of CO2/year, a situation of environmental benefit.

The project manager estimates that the generation of 40 MW added to the electric system will mean an annual saving of 30 million dollars in the oil bill, this, could reduce the cost of electricity for the consumers. The comparison in terms of price reductions is important since the generation of wind power represents a cost of 8.625 cents/KW, while the generation of energy through fuel costs around 18 cents/KW.

The wind farm could be extended in the next year, since the generation could grow up to 80 MW, and it would double the benefits already mentioned. Therefore, this extension is planned for the year 2010.


Editor: Angel Bravo

Sources (In Spanish):

http://www.laprensa.com.ni/archivo/2008/septiembre/17/noticias/

economia/283959.shtml

http://www.prensa.com/hoy/negocios/1523917.html

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